Sky High At Twilight
by Rubberduck697
Summary: Bella Swan is starting her first year of high school at Sky High, but Sky High is no ordinary High School. Located over a thousand feet above the ground, Sky High is a training ground for super heroes, and potentially super villains. All human-kinda.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Hi everybody! To those of you who are wondering, no I'm not halting progress on "Only A Celebrity Would Name Their Kid Renesmee," I just had a new idea which I couldn't get out of my head no matter how I tried…. So here it is. It's kind of a crossover between Sky High and Twilight. I only saw one Crossover like that, so I decided that it was absolutely essential I try my hand at it.**

**Disclaimer: This story is based off the writings of Stephenie Meyer in ****Twilight**** and the Disney movie "Sky High". I own neither of them, I only wish I did. **

Chapter 1: The Sorting

I walked to the end of my driveway with my eyes glued to the cracked pavement below me. I reached the small patch of grass surrounding my generic white mail box and adjusted the shoulder strap on my backpack so that it rested on my right side rather than my left. The letter from Principal Powers instructed that I stand in this exact location at precisely 7 a.m. to await the school bus which ferried all freshmen to school. It was my first day of high school, and I was insufferably nervous.

I checked my watch—it was 6:52 a.m. I made a habit of being early; it was something I had learned from my father, the marvelously judicious and ever timely man responsible for the majority of my upbringing. My father, Charlie Swan had left for the station over an hour ago—but not before I made him his favorite breakfast, French toast and maple sausage. He was a Sheriff's Deputy here in the crime ridden city of New York, and the special breakfast was not my first attempt to alleviate some of the stress he was surely feeling today on my first day at a new school.

Charlie was a worrier, but I supposed he had good reason to be. As one of New York's finest, he knew all too well the dangers of this city, but on top of that, he had never even heard of, much less visited, my new high school before last year. It was by no means a typical high school; it was a school attended by those with invitation only. More or less, you could say it was a school for the gifted, and I most certainly—for better or worse—was gifted.

Just as the letter from Principal Powers dictated, the biodiesel fueled yellow bus screeched to a halt three feet in front of me, and the door squeaked open. I looked up timidly then began my ascent up the treacherously tall steps of what I considered an all-too-innocent looking school bus. My nerves were alleviated at least marginally when a wide, jolly looking man stood and welcomed me onto the bus—quite unlike any bus driver I had encountered previously.

"Ron Wilson, Bus Driver," he announced proudly as he held his hand out for me to shake.

I carefully placed my hand in his, wary of his potential reaction to my skin. It was a few degrees colder than that of the average human and therefore embarrassingly noticeable to anyone shaking my hands. According to Principal Powers, I wouldn't have to worry about any sort of exposure at my new school because I would find myself surrounded by similarly gifted peers. I only hoped that her promise extended to my bus ride and the bus driver as well.

"Bella Swan," I said softly as I looked up to meet his eyes. He didn't flinch the way a normal person would in response to my low body temperature. Instead he grinned at me.

"Cool hands," he stated, it sounded like a compliment. "What's your power?" he asked. I supposed I would have to get used to questions like that at this new school.

I decided a demonstration would be most effective. I let my eyes fall into focus on his yellow baseball hat and focused the energy in my body into a swirling feeling. Ironically it made me feel quite warm as I coated his hat in a layer of thick ice. "I freeze things, I guess," I said simply.

He took his hat off and slid his hand across the rim appreciatively. "Neat," he smirked. "Just a few more stops and we'll be off to school," he informed me. At that moment, I finally noticed the other occupants of the bus. It was a little more than half full and several of the students were watching me curiously.

I caught sight of one girl with short spiky hair, styled into an inky black halo around her head. She was smiling at me warmly from a seat toward the back of the bus. The seat beside her was unoccupied so I decided to make my approach.

"Is this seat taken?" I asked softly. Her smile grew as she shook her head. I slid into the seat and offered her the friendliest smile I could muster.

"I'm Alice Cullen," she said sweetly and she too held out her hand to me. Just like with Ron Wilson, the bus driver, I placed my hand in hers and was once again relieved by the non-reaction. "It's nice to meet you Bella," she continued in a pleasant, melodic voice. "So is that really all you do, freeze things?" she asked as the bus jolted forward and my small home and familiar mailbox disappeared from sight.

"Well," I paused, trying to think of a way to explain my power exactly. "I suppose it's more to do with the temperature of an object, or even just the air. I can lower the temperature of any person, place, or thing until it's frozen, or I can create a pretty great ice sculpture," I said with a wry smile.

Alice took a moment to smooth out her lacey white and obviously designer skirt—she seemed to be lost in thought. Her pensive smile was genuine and sweet and I easily decided that I liked her as a person. I was surprised by my own quick conclusion about her character. The truth was, I tended to struggle when it came to making friends, particularly with people my own age, so I was quite relieved to have met somebody like her, and so soon nonetheless. Maybe high school wouldn't be so bad after all. "That's actually pretty amazing," she said with another bright and amiable expression. "So you can just make an ice sculpture out of thin air?" she verified.

Demonstrations were always best for these types of questions, so I quickly conjured up a perfectly sculpted ice rose and handed it to her. Her already broad smile grew broader still. "It's beautiful," she whispered reverently. "Roses are my foster mother, Esme's favorite," she explained.

I let the new information sink in for a few seconds before speaking again. "Foster mother?" I asked, hesitantly. I didn't want her to think I was prying or anything, but I felt like we might have the potential to be friends, so why not learn as much as I could about her?

"Yep," she said happily, "I don't actually remember my real parents," she explained rapidly when she saw the sympathetic look which had most likely transformed my face—without my permission. I was usually on the receiving end of such looks, side effect of growing up without a mother, but they generally just infuriated me so I worked to transform my features into one of complacency, rather than sympathy. "When they died, I was just a baby, too young to remember anything or understand what was happening. My foster parents, Esme and Carlisle adopted me several years ago. They're wonderful parents and I love them very much." Her voice grew soft and loving when she spoke of her new parents, and I looked at her with new eyes—what an amazing person—I was shocked at my good fortune to have actually befriended her.

When I didn't say anything, Alice continued on with her story. "Neither Carlisle nor Esme have any sort of super powers, but Esme is a social worker who helps the school track down gifted students. She couldn't have children of her own, so she adopted first Edward, then me because we were both 'gifted' children who lost our parents."

I again remained silent as I took a moment to absorb all this new information. So Esme must have been the person who found me and submitted my name to the school for an invitation. I couldn't remember ever meeting a woman named Esme, but perhaps she had tracked me down nonetheless. I was immediately thankful to this woman for finding me, and allowing me to be amongst people who would be able to befriend me without secrets.

After a few seconds of silence I decided to change the subject, to something lighter, "So what's your power?" I asked innocently.

She looked up at me with two striking green eyes; they reminded me of an evergreen tree and they matched her cashmere cardigan perfectly. "I guess you could say I control plants—," her eyes quickly flitted around the bus, "I don't think I can give you a demonstration though because there aren't really any plants around, but I'll show you once we get to school," she promised and I felt my face turn up into a smile. I had never had such an easy conversation with a near complete stranger before, it was definitely a foreign feeling for me, but I liked it.

After a few more minutes of marvelously effortless conversation with Alice, the bus stopped once again and Ron Wilson gave his ever-cheery introduction to the latest newcomer. He was a huge, and I mean enormously huge, too big for the football team, boy with curly brown hair, matching eyes and a round face. His backpack looked comically miniscule on his back and the boyish grin which turned his features at the sight of Alice, alerted me to the fact that they must already be friends.

"Hey short stuff," he greeted her with a sly smirk as he seated himself in the empty row ahead of us. After completing my compulsory observation of the near giant, I turned back to Alice, I hadn't actually noticed her height deficit previously since we were both sitting. Her heel clad feet barely reached the floor of the bus. She was unquestionably petite.

"Hey Em," she greeted with excitement, "This is Bella, she can freeze things!"

I felt my face redden slightly from embarrassment at the casual mention of my powers, however I ignored it as best I could. I boldly trained my eyes on the wide round face of this boy known as "Em". I was surprised to find that the otherwise scary looking boy in front of us had some of the softest brown eyes I had ever seen. "It's nice to meet you," I said formally, I was further surprised to discover that I wasn't even lying—I was nothing less than thrilled to meet people more like myself. I couldn't get used to this new feeling—like I actually belonged.

"Nice to meet you too Bella," he grinned, "I'm Emmett McCarty, and all I can do is lift really heavy things," he grinned sarcastically.

"Super _strength_?" I asked with a tone which failed to hide my amazement.

He laughed outright. "Yep, I've never met something I couldn't pick up," he explained with childish glee. Though I typically loathed and display of pompousness, I found Emmett's teasing self-assuredness almost endearing rather than annoying.

"Where's Rose?" asked Alice as the bus continued to speed through streets I didn't recognize and stop sporadically to admit somebody new onto the now crowded bus.

"Oh she's got her own means of transportation," Emmett said nonchalantly.

"I thought all freshmen had to ride the bus?" I questioned.

"Ha, Rose wouldn't be caught dead in any sort of public transit," Emmett smiled fondly. I noted that if he and Rose weren't dating already, then he at the very least must have a crush on her.

Alice laughed heartily at his statement, and I realized I was missing something, "Oh yes she would if she couldn't fly," she remarked.

"Wait, she can fly?" I asked, flabbergasted. Now, that was a pretty awesome power, if I might say so myself.

"_And_ she's beautiful," commented Emmett. Yep, he was definitely enamored.

As the bus came to a halt one last time, Ron Wilson stood up and turned to face us with a look of sheer excitement evident on his broad face. "Alright, boys and girls, as you all know my name is Ron Wilson, bus driver," he said jubilantly, "The next stop is Sky High!" he shouted as he returned to his seat.

He expertly pressed a few buttons and twisted a large knob and suddenly restraints popped out of the seats and fastened us in place. My heart began racing, and I looked to Alice who seemed equally frightened.

"What's going on?" I managed to squeak out between heavy breaths.

Before she could answer, Ron Wilson was yelling again, "Hang on everybody! It's gonna be a bumpy ride!" Unfortunately though, now that I was strapped into a seat with a foreboding feeling similar to that which I felt before I rode that rollercoaster last year at Six Flags Amusement Park, Ron Wilson's exuberance had ceased to be comical. Now it was just plain terrifying.

The bus zoomed forward faster than we had been travelling before. We raced down a seemingly abandoned road which slanted up dangerously. "Alice!" I called with unbridled horror filling my voice, "What's…Going…On?" I tried again between bumps and heavy breaths, but she just shook her head.

Emmett was laughing maniacally, and that was more frightening still. "Bella, Alice, look up there!" he pointed to the front of the bus, where a large road sign which read "Danger! Road Ends," blocked the path a few hundred meters ahead of us.

"Holy Crow!" I yelled, "We're gonna crash!" Alice had covered her eyes.

"Relax Bella!" Emmett called as we closed in on the sign. "The bus flies!" he explained.

I didn't feel the least bit relieved by the newest bit of information. In fact, terror like I had never felt before paralyzed me in my seat. The road sign bent automatically to our approach and we drove over it and off the edge of the roadway in one blazed motion. I screamed again and so did Alice. And suddenly we were flying.

The clouds in the sky seemed to grow larger and larger until my mind identified the fact that we were actually just getting closer to them. And in yet another surprise for the day, I realized that rather than fearful or even nauseous, now I simply felt exhilarated. I stared out the windows of the bus in awe as we passed a flock of geese. I gently touched Alice's hands which were pressed firmly to her eyes and she cautiously let them drop to her lap. "We're flying," I whispered.

She didn't look the least bit happy about that. "I hate flying," she stated resolutely. The bus ride through the clouds was remarkably smooth, in my opinion. It was a bit like riding in an airplane except it felt like we were moving faster since we were a little closer to the ground.

I noticed that the ice sculpture rose I had created for her had melted into her seat, so I searched my mind for another way to calm her. "But look outside," I suggested, as I easily transformed some of the cloud materials outside the bus into enormous snowflakes. They seemed to be flying past us as I continued to conjure beautiful giant snowflakes for her amusement.

To my relief she actually smiled. "Thanks Bella," she sighed, seemingly glad for the distraction.

"Woah!" Emmett exclaimed, "That's a cool trick! You'll be classified as a hero for sure!" he said excitedly.

Once again I felt confusion color my expression. "Excuse me?" I asked as the bus crashed to a stop on an island which was just floating in the sky. The collection of stark white buildings, tar black parking lots, grassy fields, and commotion of teenagers was undoubtedly a school. So this was Sky High, no doubt named for its location in the sky. It was more amazing than I had imagined.

"Sorry everybody!" shouted Ron Wilson from the front of the bus in apology for the rough landing. He then opened the doors and pressed a button which unfastened our safety harnesses.

"Glad that's over with," Alice said with obvious relief as we gathered our belongings and marched off the bus. Even with her heels, I still had a good two or three inches on Alice in the height department. She was tiny.

"So what were you saying before about being classified as a super hero?" I asked as Emmett, Alice, and I followed the other students toward the largest building. There were lots of students congregated in the grassy area between the pavement for the buses and the school. I watched with a slightly parted mouth as the teenagers each displayed various super powers which would probably frighten any normal human. There was a boy with braces bending metal with his mind and a girl on the other side of my peripheral vision just quadrupled her size so that now she was taller than the school. The clatter of voices and activity helped ease my nerves.

Alice's face grew confused now in response to my question. "You do know that Sky High is a school for super heroes?" she seemed worried.

"Well, yes, Principal Powers explained as much," _to me at least_, I added in my head. I had decided my father didn't need that kind of stress, so I had refrained from sharing the fact that I would be attending a school which sought to teach us how to fight "bad guys" with our super powers. What my father did know, was that I would be among similarly "gifted" people, and I wouldn't have to worry about hiding my "gift" while I received an education. That was more than enough for his ever-worrying self to handle.

"And everybody is classified as either a hero or a sidekick based on their power," Emmett explained further. I stopped short. Now that information was new. Alice and Emmett had been walking on either side of me, and they halted as well and each turned to face me with concern painted on their faces—well, more humor than concern in Emmett's expression, but there was still at least a hint of concern. I felt my body temperature drop and a patch of ice begin to form beneath me as my nervousness returned in full force.

"You mean they judge us by our powers?" I squeaked out.

Alice nodded morosely, "It's really a stupid hierarchical system designed to separate us and make some people feel superior to others. I personally don't believe in it."

I was too stunned to say anything. I didn't like the idea of being told that my power was any less useful or super than somebody else's. I hadn't noticed that we had begun moving again until I ran straight into Emmett's back. He laughed. "Walk much Bella?" I flushed, embarrassed by my clumsiness.

I didn't have a chance to apologize before I became aware of a blur of color swirling in a circle around the group of freshmen which had just exited the bus—myself included. Once we were herded into a tight circle, two unfriendly looking boys stood before us with haughty expressions on their faces.

"Hello fresh_meat_," greeted the darker of the two boys, dressed in a long sleeved striped shirt. As we watched, the striped sleeve on his arm extended longer and longer until his hand was fifteen feet from his body, nearly touching one of the smaller freshmen near the front of the group. I supposed that the combination of his small stature and the bright yellow visor he wore tilted to the side on his head had brought unwanted attention to himself, making him a target. I felt sorry for him.

"We're the welcoming committee," explained the stretchable bully casually. I detected the slightest hint of French accent in his voice, "Now we'll be happy to collect that fifteen dollar bus fee," he explained with overly false charm as his hand tapped the side of the small, visor wearing freshmen boy.

The other member of the self proclaimed "welcoming committee" had blonde hair and brown, calculating eyes. The color of his clothes matched the shades of swirling which had been surrounding us, herding us. Apparently he had some sort of super speed. His eyes scanned over the crowd of freshmen quickly and he flitted over to stand before Alice, Emmett, and me in a motion far too fast for my eyes to comprehend.

Emmett looked displeased with the display which the two boys were putting on and he crossed his arms impatiently.

"Well hello there beautiful," said the speed demon, staring at me with a glint of approval in his cruel, scheming eyes, "I suppose I could waive the bus fee for you, if you'd join me for a date after school," he said smoothly. I quickly looked behind me to make sure he was actually talking to me.

"Um," I said, bewildered. Everything about the boy seemed distasteful to me from his overly-evident cockiness to his sadistic enjoyment of tormenting freshmen.

Unfortunately, he seemed to take my incoherency as a sign of coyness, so he reached his hand over to grab mine. There was no way I was alright with that. "Freeze!" I yelled. I hadn't actually intended to physically freeze him, but sometimes my self-preservation reactions operated without my approval.

Emmett laughed, "Nice Bella." He poked the newest ice sculpture decorating the lawn of the school with amusement. "He's really stuck there, isn't he?"

"Until he thaws," I agreed.

A new voice, disrupted us once again, and I looked up to see a fiery red headed girl standing before the group now. "Laurent," she admonished the dark boy with the stretchy arms, "Play nice," she teased. She turned to face the freshmen now. "Hello everybody and welcome to Sky High, my name is Victoria, and I'm the student body president. Please excuse these two clowns, Laurent and James," she motioned first to the gangly boy then the statue of the blonde one. One of her perfectly manicured eyebrows lifted when she saw that he was now covered in ice, but she didn't mention it. "Now, if you'll all follow me please, I'll take you to the gymnasium so you can be sorted properly."

Emmett smirked at me one more time and we followed Victoria into a large room with shiny wooden floors and muted beige walls. I recognized the shoulder length brown hair and sharp eyes of Principal Powers standing behind a podium on a large rectangular stage in the center of the gym. She was clearly past her prime, but her statuesque frame was clad in a black business suit which simply screamed, "Do NOT mess with me". No doubt she had been quite the super hero several years ago. A heavy set man in white gym shorts, a red baseball cap, and long white socks stood beside her holding a shiny silver whistle which he wore on a lanyard around his neck.

"Good morning students, and welcome to Sky High!" Principal Powers said proudly. "In case some of you are unaware, my name is Principal Powers, and it is my pleasure to introduce you to Coach Boomer," she motioned to the man beside her and he nodded curtly. "He will be sorting you into your appropriate classes in a few minutes. For the sorting to take place, you each will demonstrate your power to Coach Boomer and he will decide your placement. I hope that you all have a wonderful day and a most enriching experience here at Sky High." She nodded once to Victoria, before promptly exploding into a bright white comet which crashed out of the room leaving all of the freshmen quite stunned.

"Cool!" Emmett whispered. "I wonder what she could do with—," he cut off abruptly as a beautiful blonde girl with crystal blue eyes sauntered over to us and came to a stop just beside Emmett. She was quite literally the most beautiful person I had ever seen. I quickly contemplated the probability that she had physically just walked out of some fashion magazine—after all the super powers that I had seen today, there was a distinct possibility. Her tan skin was accented stunningly with a tight fitting white dress and high healed sand-colored sandals which wrapped around her legs and seemed to elongate them for miles. I felt my self esteem shrink by just being in her presence. "Rose, you made it!" Emmett exclaimed once he had regained his composure. His excited, puppy dog face was comical, I had to laugh.

"Of course I did," Rose agreed with extreme confidence. When she looked at me though, she had humor in her eyes as well. "I'm Rose, and you are?" she asked pointedly. There was no doubt, she was well aware of her beauty, and it made her fierce.

I coughed, "Bella," I held out my hand and she placed hers in mine daintily, "Bella Swan," I said further, and she smiled a blindingly bright smile.

"Rosalie Hale, pleasure," she said briskly as she turned to face the front where Coach Boomer was now speaking.

"As some of you may not already know, I'm Coach Boomer, aka _Sonic Boom_!" he yelled that last part so loud that the windows shook and my eardrums felt faint. I supposed that was why he was called "Sonic Boom".

"For your sorting," he continued gruffly, "Each of you will individually step up here on the stage and demonstrate your powers with whichever tests that I deem appropriate. Now because a lot of you are whiners and won't appreciate the sorting I give you, you should all know one thing: my word is _final!_" Once again, his loud boom of a voice shook the entire gym as he yelled the word "final". "If you don't like being a side kick, that's tough, because you are what you are and nothing more. Now, on with the sorting!"

He motioned for a girl with magenta hair to approach the stage. "Name?" he questioned.

"Angela Weber," she said shortly.

"What's your power?" he demanded.

"I'm a shape shifter," Angela explained with little patience.

"Well show me!" Coach Boomer yelled with even less patience.

Before our eyes, the magenta haired girl morphed into a guinea pig. Emmett covered his mouth to stifle a laugh.

"That's it?" yelled Boomer.

Angela quickly morphed back and crossed her arms, waiting for the judgment.

"Sidekick!" he screamed and she stormed off stage, her foul mood seemingly unfazed. So maybe she knew she'd be just a side kick all along. Alice was shaking her head in disapproval beside me.

"You next!" Coach Boomer yelled at a blonde haired boy standing near the stage.

"Mike Newton, sir," said the boy nervously. His features were cute, but rather babyish.

"What's your power?" Boomer demanded.

Without speaking, Mike transformed into a giant rock-like creature. Boomer seemed enthusiastic. "Car!" he yelled and less than a second later a car fell from the ceiling. The rock-like creature known as Mike caught it then threw it across the gym.

"Neat," commented Emmett appreciatively, "But at least I don't have to turn into a giant rock to do that," he smirked at Rose as he slipped his arm around her shoulder. She didn't shrug him off so I assumed that they must be dating after all.

"You next!" Boomer pointed at the small dark haired boy whom stretchy Laurent had targeted for his bullying earlier. In the muted light of the gym, I noticed that his hair actually had a bright yellow streak down the middle which complimented his—unique—highlighter yellow clothing, "What's your name?"

"Ben Cheney, man," he said confidently as he adjusted the visor he was wearing so it tilted at an even more severe angle.

"Power?" Boomer demanded once again.

Ben focused for a minute, "Kay, there it is!" he proclaimed.

"What?" Boomer seemed less than thrilled.

"I glow!" Ben explained, "It's easier to see if you turn the lights off. Or I suppose you could just cup your hands around me or something."

Boomer definitely wasn't impressed. "_Sidekick!_" he screamed as Ben's mouth fell open.

"But, I _glow!_" Ben argued.

The sorting continued for another hour and a half while we stood huddled in the gym around the stage. I was awed by the number and diversity of gifts among us. When Boomer dismissed us for lunch, we walked as a large group into the cafeteria before finally splitting up to sit with our newest acquaintances. I was glad to see that some of those sorted as heroes still sat with the ones sorted as sidekicks. Rose, Emmett, Alice, and I sat at a table near the front after picking up our food—which actually looked pretty good. I had a grilled chicken sandwich, while Rose and Alice each got salads, and Emmett had pizza.

"I still can't believe that the administrators at this school have the nerve to tell us that some people's gifts are any better than others," scoffed Alice about halfway through lunch. She had been scowling throughout the sorting process, and I already missed the smile I had grown accustomed to from our first few minutes of meeting on the bus.

"Don't worry Alice," Emmett laughed, "We'll all be classified as heroes, no doubt. Even you short stuff. I've seen that gift of yours in action. It can be scary, let me tell you," Emmett explained ominously and Rose smirked.

"Oh yeah, you promised you'd show me your power!" I remembered suddenly causing everybody at our table to smile.

"Alright," Alice agreed. I was relieved to see the smile again.

Alice pointed to the window near the far corner of the lunch room and Emmett grinned in anticipation, "See that plant," she said as she made a motion with her hand. In an instant the flowering plant which sat in a small pot just inside the window began growing at a remarkable rate. It climbed up the wall in a vine-like motion until the whole window was covered in leafy green vines and bright purple flowers.

"Wow!" I was mesmerized by the mutant fern, and when I turned to meet Alice's gaze I saw in place of her eyes, two glowing green orbs. Her gift had so much potential. She would definitely be a hero.

"So Emmett tells me you can make ice cubes Bella?" Rose asked after a moment of heavy silence.

I nodded self consciously, "I suppose that's one way of putting it," I agreed.

"Think you'll make hero?" she questioned again.

"Rosie, you wouldn't believe what she could do, it was so cool!" Emmett said enthusiastically.

"Well I guess we'll just have to wait and see, won't we," Rose said with a challenging smile. It was intimidating, but I could see that it was in good fun. Despite her cold exterior, she seemed to have warmed up to me, and it almost seemed like she truly did want me to do well. Perhaps it was Emmett's influence, but perhaps not. How had I found such good friends already anyway?

When lunch time was over, the four of us emptied our trays and headed back toward the door which lead out to the courtyard by the gym. As we passed a loud group of upperclassmen girls, I noticed one solitary figure sitting alone at a lunch table near the window with the flower pot Alice had used for her demonstration.

My eyes locked on him, and I couldn't rip them away. I don't know how I managed to keep from tripping. His bronze hair was the most beautiful shade I had ever witnessed and it was in a state of disarray—yet somehow unbearably silky looking. I hadn't even seen his face, but I already longed to run my fingers through his beautiful locks.

His lanky, slim frame was covered by a black button up shirt which hinted at designer origins, and my curiosity grew. When we passed him, though, I realized in less than a second's time that he must either be a dream or a figment of my imagination. His face was _that _stunning. It was angular and strong looking. And his eyes! His eyes were a vibrant green color which I could see clearly despite the distance between us and the fact that his head was cast downward, staring at his tray. He was so beautiful—like he had been designed from a list of every physical desire I could ever think to ask for in a male counterpart. "Who's that?" I said softly, motioning over my shoulder to the angel.

Alice and Rose both giggled. "Why do you ask?" Alice teased.

I felt my face flush, which made Alice only laugh harder, "That's my foster brother, Edward," Alice explained after a good long laugh at my expense.

"Wait, he's your _brother?!"_ As in they lived in the same _house?_ As in she was privileged to a view of his glorious face every _day?_

Alice simply nodded smugly, sensing my obvious infatuation. "Why's he sitting alone?" I wondered after a moment of attempting to clear my head and school my features back into one of indifference.

Alice brushed one of her hands through her short spiky hair, looking a bit uncomfortable for a few seconds before she answered with a much more subdued tone, "He's not really that comfortable here at this school amongst heroes. See, the reason Esme and Carlisle adopted him is his dad actually used to be a super villain. When Edward was less than a year old, his dad was defeated by a hero who graduated from this very school, and he's been locked away in prison ever since. He's in on a life sentence." Alice took another moment to contemplate before adding, "Since a super hero was responsible for getting Edward's father arrested in the first place, and that's essentially what everybody here is pining to be, he doesn't really get along very well here."

"So, he doesn't want to be a hero?" I asked uncertainly.

"No, it's not that!" Alice insisted, "He may not get along well here, but he has a good heart!" Alice was quick to defend, so my mind relaxed infinitesimally. Alice seemed like a good person, and probably a very decent judge of character, "He's no super villain like his father, he's a hero," Alice said fervently.

I felt a lump of sadness well up in the back of my throat thinking about Edward's discomfort at Sky High. I remembered all too well my years of normal public schooling and never feeling like I belonged. Everything was so different here, different—but better. Here, I did belong. Here, at Sky High, I could be open about my powers and problems. I had made friends already and it was an amazing feeling. I didn't even want to think about what it would feel like to be an outcast even here.

I remained silent as we walked the rest of the way back to the gym. Sorting continued again promptly, and Rose and Emmett were each sorted as heroes easily. Coach Boomer had Rosalie demonstrate her flying abilities by dodging fiery arrows and navigating through hoops. He dropped a semi-truck on top of Emmett and Emmett very efficiently broke it in half and tossed the two pieces of the truck in opposite directions across the gym floor. Needless to say, Boomer was impressed by both displays.

After a small girl with big glasses changed into a human size rubber ball, Coach Boomer literally _kicked_ her off the stage while pronouncing her a sidekick, I think he was trying to be clever. Finally it was my turn. I carefully made my way up to the stage and stood as tall as I could in an attempt to look confident rather than unbearably nervous. I looked down to Alice and Emmett and Rose as soon as I reached the stage, I was relieved to see them each smiling at me, trying to convey their emotional support.

"Name?" demanded Coach Boomer.

"Bella Swan," I said determinedly. He grinned when he heard my tone.

"Let's see what you've got then," he commanded, "Go ahead."

I decided to bring as much ice as I could, so that he would see the value of my gift. I focused for half a second on the spot I had been occupying near Alice and Rose so that less than 8 seconds later; the entire gym floor was covered in ice. I felt warm, so I knew there must be a definite chill in the air at this point. The students were gasping and slipping, but I couldn't read the expression on Boomer's face, so I decided to keep going. I swiftly formed a cage of ice around Coach Boomer, with thick icy bars and a perfectly sculpted roof. His eyes grew large, but I still couldn't tell if he was impressed or simply annoyed. Trying to turn the tides in my favor, I next formed several thick levels of ice on the ground like stairs ascending toward the roof of the gym—with his newly formed prison resting securely up top, twenty feet from the floor. Nevertheless, I remained uncertain; I really didn't want to hear a negative judgment. So in a flurry of angst, I decided to try something which I hadn't yet perfected, but had been working on for a while now—flying.

Well, technically it wasn't really flying so much as a form of levitation in which I cooled the air below me just to the point where the less dense, warm air surrounding me was forced to rise above the cold, carrying me with it. The theory had been something I discovered last summer, in the warm air of Florida during a vacation which Charlie had endeavored to supply for us to escape the craziness of the big city for a few days. The levitation had been all too easy with the warm, humid, Florida air, but I would have to focus much harder to recreate the experience in the significantly cooler gym—cooler because nearly everything in sight was covered with ice.

I stared at nothing and tuned out everything in the gym apart from the swirling cold energy I felt within me. In my extreme concentration, I knew that my normally brown eyes would probably become a severe crystal white color. Charlie had first advised me of that occurrence when I was five—the time I froze my backyard because I wanted to go ice skating. I could see little puffs of frosty air shooting out of my fingertips and I felt little chips of ice beginning to condense at the tips of my long brown hair as it floated around me while I levitated. I was relieved that it was working.

Finally the eerily silent Boomer spoke. "Hero, hero, _HERO_!" he screamed. I broke out of my trance when I saw that his eyes had grown even larger with awed shock than I had seen throughout the entire day of sorting. I carefully placed myself back on the stage, and ran my tingling fingers through my half frozen hair. To my enormous surprise and embarrassment, the entire gym broke out into a deafening applause. I, of course, blushed. "My, my Bella Swan," Coach Boomer said, with a tone which suggested nothing short of reverence, "I have never seen a gift like yours before!" he commented.

I rejoined my newly acquired friends in the back of the crowd of students as the effects of my freezing began to melt. "Bella!" Emmett whisper yelled, "You've been holding out on us!"

"How so?" I wondered.

Rose was the one to answer this time, "Emmett said you could make ice. I didn't know you could do, well, _that!_" Rosalie motioned toward the now de-caged Coach Boomer. I was a little relieved to see that the combination of melting from the heat in the gym and his sonic boom of a voice had cracked his cage enough for him to escape. I hadn't really considered what his reaction would be if he realized that he would be stuck in a cage of ice for the remainder of the day.

Before I had a chance to answer Rose, Coach Boomer had returned to his sorting—this time demanding that Alice demonstrate her powers for his judgment. I watched her chin jut out just slightly as a look of sheer defiance captured her features. She shook her head boldly from right to left and didn't move an inch from her spot beside me. "No" she said with cool anger, "I refuse to support or take any part in this bureaucratic system where you value one gift over another."

"_Excuse me?_" boomed the coach. "What's your name young lady?" he screeched.

"Alice Cullen," she said haughtily.

"Fine Alice Cullen, have it your way! Sidekick!" he proclaimed. I paled and felt my mouth fall agape in alarm, but Emmett and Rose just laughed.

"Oh short stuff," Emmett admonished, "You would," he teased her.

"Now don't tell me you did this just so you could be in a few classes with a certain brother of mine," Rose giggled. Emmett laughed even harder, and I simply felt confused.

"Your brother?" I asked, looking to Rose for answers.

"His name's Jasper," she explained, "He's two years ahead of us, but Alice never could get over the fact that he was labeled a sidekick rather than a hero."

"Well that and she loooves him," Emmett crooned, making Rose grin conspiratorially.

Alice scowled at them both. "Just because his gift is subtle, doesn't mean it's any less valuable in a battle or confrontation!" Alice said, outraged, "And who is Boomer to say what is and isn't a super hero power?" she demanded further, ignoring the continuing demonstrations and sorting of our classmates, I noticed that she never denied loving him.

"What is his gift?" I asked cautiously. Her face softened as she thought about him. Apparently Emmett wasn't the only one suffering from being lovesick around here; Alice seemed to have the bug as well.

"He's an empath," Alice said proudly, "He can sense and even alter the emotions of those surrounding him. Like I said, it's subtle, but very potent!"

"Wow," was all I managed to say. That did sound like a pretty neat power, "I bet he's really good at diffusing tense situations," I mused.

Alice beamed at me, "Exactly!"

"He's never lost a fight because he can alter the feelings of those around him," Rose added with a small, fond grin of her own.

"He's never even been_ in_ a fight," Emmett clarified with a wry grin. I had no choice but to smile back, my worries about Alice's judgment all but forgotten. The fact was, the boyish dimples on Emmett's humungous face were rather adorable. I marveled at the fact that somebody so huge and powerful could pull off looking so…cute. Not to be misunderstood, I wasn't by any means attracted to Emmett McCarty—in fact, already he felt much more like a brother. I could simply understand Rosalie's appreciation of his contrasting features. He still had nothing on Edward.

**A/N Sooo, tell me what you think! I've got two more chapters done and I'll post them once I know that somebody is actually interested in reading this. So let me know!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N Hi everybody, as promised, here's the second chapter. Don't get too excited though, this one isn't nearly as eventful—or long as the first. It's necessary, though, to introduce some conflict. I hope it's not too much of a letdown, and if it is, please just bare with me and I promise chapter 3 will be much better.**

**Disclaimer: Neither "Sky High" nor ****Twilight**** are my property. Not even close.**

Chapter 2 - Charlie

The last student to be sorted for the day was a tall, Native American looking boy. I hardly paid attention when he transformed into a giant wolf onstage. My legs were tired from standing all day and I was ready to head home. Coach Boomer told us where to pick up our schedules for the school year before dismissing us for the evening. Classes for freshmen wouldn't start until tomorrow.

Boomer directed us to the Parker Building where Rose, Emmett, and I all went in one direction to the "Hero" lounge to pick up our schedules while Alice was forced to part with us in order to attain her own schedule from the "Hero Support" lounge. Apparently "Hero Support" was the politically correct name for sidekicks. I still agreed with Alice that the sorting was an entirely ridiculous tradition. I was proud of her for standing up for something she believed in, rather than simply conforming the way everybody else had—including me.

The bus ride home was just as exhilarating as the ride to school as we shot through the sky like a bullet. The atmosphere on the bus was very different though, for two reasons. The first reason was logical and probably typical for any group of new students after their first day at a new school: everybody was a lot less nervous and much more confident about the impending school year now that the first day was over. The second reason was much more fanatical: everybody, and I mean _everybody,_ was smiling at me or greeting me as if we had known each other all our lives.

After the decidedly handsome, Native American boy, whom I recognized from the sorting, greeted me with a sunny smile and an offer of the seat beside him, I decided that something must be going on. I bewilderedly declined. As I slid in next to Alice in the seat behind Emmett—he was once again alone since Rosalie had opted to fly home—I felt my face with my hands, then smoothed out my hair—trying to determine if there was something wrong with my appearance.

"What are you doing?" asked Alice with a humorous smirk.

"Trying to figure out why everybody is talking to me and acting so strange," I explained as I did a final check on my clothing to ensure that everything was still intact and in place.

Emmett laughed as he turned to face us. "Probably has something to do with that display you put on in the gym. That was pretty crazy Bella. Your eyes were glowing white and your hair was flying everywhere! It was terrifying!" he confessed, before adding, "Well, I mean, I could probably still take you if it came to a fight, but I'm just saying—anybody besides me would most likely give up right then and there." His eager grin was firmly in place.

"Thanks Emmett," I grinned, "You weren't so bad yourself, smashing that semi-truck as if it were a piece of glass."

"Brace yourselves!" shouted Ron Wilson, the bus driver, shortly before we made contact with the ground.

Alice exhaled loudly. "Glad that's over with," she sighed, "And don't encourage him Bella. His head's already so big it hardly fits on this flying death trap!"

Emmett threw said head back in raucous laughter. "You know we're going to have to do that every day, twice a day, for the next four years," he coughed out between laughs.

"What? Ride the bus?" Alice clarified. He nodded his head dramatically. "Not on weekends or holidays," she argued petulantly. I chuckled right along with Emmett that time until Alice shot me a murderous glare.

"Alice, we're on a bus full of super heroes," I said in an attempt to redeem myself, "If anything were to happen, I'm sure that at least somebody here could stop the bus from crashing."

She did look at least partially comforted by that notion.

"Actually Bella could probably stop the bus in mid air all by herself," Emmett mused. I thought about it for a second and nodded my head. I had never tried levitating anything besides myself before, but he had a point. If I could use my ability to keep myself in the air, why not a school bus?

Emmett got off the bus in a posh, upper middle class neighborhood after bidding Alice and me good bye. After a few more stops it was finally my turn to get home so I told Alice to save me a seat beside her for tomorrow's bus ride. She agreed gleefully, and then gave me a hug before I walked up the aisle and off the bus.

My cracked driveway and plain white, one-story home had never looked so cheery before. I waved to Ron Wilson and Alice as the bus sped off down the street. I grabbed the mail and unlocked the door to my empty house. Charlie wouldn't be home for a few hours, and I didn't have any homework yet so I was free for the evening.

I sat down on the old leather couch in the living room and turned on the TV, something I hadn't done in ages. Charlie had left it on ESPN, but I was uninterested in the World Series of Poker so I decided to search for the remote. Charlie was always losing it. After rummaging between the seat cushions I decided to look through the drawers on the wooden end table. There were all sorts of random odds and ends in the drawer: a AA battery, a miniature clock radio, a broken slinky, some torn pages of old TV Guide booklets and magazines, but no remote. Sighing, I began to close the drawer when I caught side of a worn out looking book called A Dome of Many-Coloured Glass. The name sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it, so I pulled the book out to examine it.

When I noticed the author's name I realized why it had seemed so familiar. Amy Lowell was by far one of my favorite American poets. I flipped open the book and discovered that it was a collection of lyrical poems and sonnets which she published in the early 1900s. What was this doing in here? Charlie liked poetry about as much as he liked watching the Red Sox win. There was no way this belonged to my father, so that meant it must have been my mother's, hidden in this drawer since before she went missing all those years ago. Amazing.

Charlie had mentioned once that my mother, Renee, had enjoyed poetry, but he generally didn't speak about her, so my knowledge of her was fairly limited. I couldn't blame him for shying away from discussions of Renee, a fool could see that he still loved her and missed her terribly. In fact, he still held a file at his office filled with pictures and interviews from employees at the computer company where she used to work before she went missing. Whenever a woman was reported missing or found that seemed even the remotest bit similar to my mother, Charlie would jump right on the case in an attempt to find her. He never gave up trying to locate my long lost mother, and I had no doubt that if I hadn't been born he would have left his job here in New York and searched to the ends of the Earth to try and find her—or at least find out what happened to her.

I fingered the battered cover of the book reverently and wondered what else my mother and I would have had in common besides a love of poetry. I knew that like me, my mother had been gifted, so to speak. However, her gift was very different from mine. Renee could control electrical impulses and direct electric currents with her mind. I supposed the conceptual part of her gift worked very similarly to mine in that we both solely used our minds to manipulate external forces—electricity in her case, and heat, or rather coolness in mine. However, the similarities in our gifts ended there. With a heartbreakingly sad smile on his face, Charlie had once told me that Renee used to be able to fix any electrical appliance in the house. I wished that I would have had the opportunity to know her better.

With extreme caution, I gently flipped to the front cover of the book and was surprised to find a note scrawled in my father's messy handwriting. I mouth fell open in huff when I realized it was a note to my mother.

_Renee-_

_I can't believe it's been three years already_

_And to think that pretty soon you're going to make me a dad!_

_I know our future daughter will be happy and loved_

_I will do anything, and everything to make sure that's the case_

_I am honored to call you my wife and the love of my life._

_I hope you enjoy this book of poetry,_

_I'm pretty sure that you said this was one of your favorites_

_Happy Anniversary!_

_Love,_

_Charlie Swan_

By the time I finished reading through his short note 5 times, I had tears not just gleaming in my eyes, but streaming down my face. My father never showed any sort of emotion if he could help it, so reading this note, I could hardly reconcile the two versions of Charlie. As far as I could tell though, he—to this day—still lived by everything he wrote in this note. Renee Swan is still the love of his life and Charlie has done everything, including ignoring his own pain at the loss of his love, to ensure that I was raised in a safe and loving home.

I noticed that several of the pages were folded over, as if Renee had marked them as her favorites. I spent the next hour and a half reading through each of the poems she had marked and then some.

By far, the most ripped up, folded page in the entire book contained a short poem called, "Opal"

_You are ice and fire,_

_The touch of you burns my hands like snow._

_You are cold and flame._

_You are the crimson of amaryllis,_

_The silver of moon-touched magnolias._

_When I am with you,_

_My heart is a frozen pond_

_Gleaming with agitated torches._

I read through the poem more times than I cared to count. It was short, and to the point, but so full of emotion at the same time. Amy Lowell's imagery in this poem was so vivid, and just… wonderful: fire and ice seemed so romantic in her words. I created a small ice crystal in my hand and wrapped my hand around it to try and get a better idea of the feeling she was describing—it was rather difficult for me since my body temperature was so low.

At the same time, I tried to imagine the passionate relationship my parents must have once shared for my mother to find such a poem so appealing. I had never experienced or even witnessed such passion first hand, and as I thought of it, my mind was assaulted by an image of Alice's foster brother, Edward, sitting alone in the cafeteria: his uniquely bronze hair beautifully unattended, his sharp green eyes staring at nothing, and everything, his perfectly intelligent looking face. I shook my head, trying to dispel the thoughts. I hardly knew anything about the boy, and I hadn't even spoken one word to him in conversation. It was highly inappropriate that the first image to pop into my mind when I tried to imagine love or passion would be his.

I found another poem which I thought Alice might appreciate, called "Hero-Worship"

_A face seen passing in a crowded street,  
A voice heard singing music, large and free;  
And from that moment life is changed, and we  
Become of more heroic temper, meet  
To freely ask and give, a man complete  
Radiant because of faith, we dare to be  
What Nature meant us. Brave idolatry  
Which can conceive a hero! No deceit,  
No knowledge taught by unrelenting years,  
Can quench this fierce, untamable desire.  
We know that what we long for once achieved  
Will cease to satisfy. Be still our fears;  
If what we worship fail us, still the fire  
Burns on, and it is much to have believed._

Lowell's words in this poem brought to my mind the sorting which freshmen at Sky High had undergone today. Nearly half of us were told that we were heroes simply because of some genetic slipup which gave us super powers. But what truly makes somebody a hero? Just because somebody tells you that you're a hero, or because nature has destined you to have extraordinary gifts, does that actually make you a hero? No, there had to be something more. More than simple power or even foolish bravery, there would have to be a sense of self sacrifice—putting others before yourself. That had to be what defined a true hero.

What right did Coach Boomer or even Principal Powers have to tell a bunch of fourteen year old kids whether they were heroes or not simply based on their physical abilities? None. We may have been super, and perhaps some of us more super than others, but if they wanted to see a real hero, they should look to my father—my father, who sacrificed his own needs and happiness to raise me, who works everyday to secure this city for our family and everybody else's. Charlie Swan was a real hero, not me.

I quickly scribbled down my two favorite poems on a sheet of notebook paper. I checked the clock which hung in the living room and was startled to see that it was 4:45 already, Charlie would be home in about an hour and I hadn't even thought about what I would serve for dinner.

I left the book on the couch and walked through the front entryway back to the other side of the house and toward the kitchen. The walls of the kitchen were slightly less plain than the rest of the house; apparently my mother had painted it a warm lavender color around the time I was born. Charlie could never bring himself to change it, so lavender it remained.

I left the TV on the same sports channel so I could hear the noise from the kitchen, making the house seem much less lonely. I began searching around the refrigerator for something edible and not too time consuming to make. I had thawed out some steaks over the weekend so I pulled two out to marinade. I preheated the oven and extracted two potatoes next before buttering, chiving, adding sour cream, and covering them in tin foil. While I waited for the oven to heat, I decided I would have enough time to bake the cherry pie I'd been meaning to make for Charlie as a treat.

I set the jar of cherries I had stashed in the cupboard by the stove in a handmade block of ice so that they would cool while I made the crust. By the time Charlie got home I had the table set with a glass of milk at each place, the cherry pie cooling in the window above the sink, and the steak and potatoes keeping warm in the oven.

"Bells?" called my father as he walked in the front door.

"In the kitchen," I sang. He quickly stashed his gun belt in the front entryway and followed his nose toward his freshly prepared meal.

"Smells delicious," he commented approvingly. He looked tired. His serious face appeared to have gained a wrinkle or two today and his eyes drooped as if he had been missing sleep recently. His dark hair was cropped short so it didn't fall in his eyes, but it showed some of the tell-tale signs of thinning.

"Hey dad," I greeted; he didn't really sanction me calling him Charlie. "How was work?"

"Good, good," he replied, watching the steak hungrily as I flopped a large slab of it on his plate. "Busy as usual, there's always something in this city," he commented dispassionately.

I passed him the potatoes before responding. "Dad why did you become a police officer?" I asked as I discreetly added some asparagus to his plate before he could complain. I knew he wasn't truly unsatisfied with his job, or even his venue for crime fighting, so much as the fact that criminals still insisted on wreaking havoc in his home town when they had already taken his love.

A slightly nostalgic look appeared in his eyes as he spoke in between large bites, "I wanted to help bring criminals to justice, to protect our city and all that we hold dear," he said plainly. There was no spark or even interest in his voice as one might expect to accompany such a noble statement.

I stared at my steak for a long moment, chewing on my lip and trying to imagine the passionate person I had seen in the poetry book which still lay on the couch in the living room—I'd have to move that out of his line of sight, and soon. "Why do you do it still?" I asked softly.

His chocolate brown eyes shot up to mine instantly and he almost choked on whatever piece of food he had been attempting to swallow. "I don't know what you mean," he stated numbly, but I knew better.

"Are you still trying to find _her?"_ I asked with increased volume. I knew not to use her name—he would know who I was talking about.

"Oh come on Bella," he chided, "Even I'm not that stupid." His eyes were smoldering with barely hidden pain as he spoke, and I almost regretted asking him. He worked hard to conceal that pain from me, it seemed cruel to make him face it. "I know she's not coming back," he said in almost a whisper.

I let the subject drop; I didn't want to press him too much more tonight. I knew he hated displaying any sort of emotions, particularly when it involved my mother, so we finished our dinners in companionable silence. I asked Charlie to serve the pie after dinner and I used his distraction with one of his favorite desserts to rush out into the living room and stash the poetry book in my room. Avoidance of all mention of my mother would be essential for the remainder of the night—and probably the next few days or so.

"Oh by the way Bella," Charlie said suddenly about half way through his pie. "How was your first day of school?"

I smiled genuinely and he returned it with hope in his eyes. "It was pretty great dad," I said enthusiastically, "I met three new people and everybody there was so nice to me today. It's really a relief not having to hide or worry about my gift all the time."

Charlie looked intrigued. "So these new people you met, do they have gifts… like you?" he asked uncertainly.

I nodded. "Rosalie is this blonde supermodel of a girl and she can fly," I explained excitedly, "Emmett, who I'm pretty sure is her boyfriend, has super strength. And then Alice, oh Alice is just great dad," I didn't bother hiding the eagerness in my voice. "You would really like her—she can control plants with her mind. Like at lunch today, I asked her to give us a demonstration, so she made this little plant—which was sitting in a flower pot by the window—grow into these huge vines which looked like they could probably hold the weight of a human!"

Charlie looked less stunned by the casual mention of super powers, and more disoriented by my fervor and excitement. "So you had a good day?" he verified.

"A far better day than I've ever had at school before," I laughed easily. His soft laugh formed a duet with my own, and I was glad to see that some of his stress was relieved by the fact that I had had a successful day at school. The truth was, I was actually looking forward to going back tomorrow.

**A/N Thanks for reading! Please review! I have the third chapter finished already, so I'll post it sometime this weekend (It needs a little work still). I apologize for any mistakes in this chapter, if you see one, please let me know either by review or message so I can fix it! Thank youuu!! :^) **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N Hi everybody, welcome back! Thanks for bearing with me. I hope you like this chapter! Sorry it's so long, I got a little carried away.**

**Disclaimer: All ****Twilight**** and "Sky High" references, and most specifically characters, belong to their respective owners—neither of which are me. **

Chapter 3 – Mad Science Lab

At 5:30 a.m. my dreams were assaulted by the toneless blaring of my alarm clock. I groaned as I sat up and reached around blindly to turn off the annoying device. I almost knocked my bedside lamp right off its stand in the process. Without the bright red numbers on my alarm clock I would have had no idea that it wasn't still the middle of the night.

I heard the noise of water running through the pipes so I assumed Charlie must already be awake and showering, so I rolled out of bed and pulled on a sweatshirt before heading to the kitchen to start on breakfast. I knew my father was perfectly capable of scrambling some eggs by himself, but I liked to at least try to be helpful in the morning so he could start out his day with a little less hassle. I had set the coffee out last night, so all I had to do was press a button and the coffee maker began brewing some strong Columbian brew—Charlie's favorite.

Next I got started on the eggs and bacon. Charlie preferred his eggs well cooked and covered in cheese, he also liked his bacon greasy. It was really a good thing he had me around so I could make sure he didn't clog his arteries with this cholesterol-filled meal every single day. I had given up packing salads for lunch for him because, though he always thanked me profusely, I knew he wouldn't eat a salad unless his life depended on it—and even then, it was still debatable. Instead, while I waited for his bacon to cook in the microwave, I made him a bologna and cheese sandwich. I realized pickles didn't really count as vegetables, but they were at least green, so I felt somewhat comforted including one in his lunch for the day.

"Morning Bells," Charlie greeted with a smile as he walked over to the coffee maker and poured himself a cup. "You know, you really don't have to do this every day," he reminded me as he pulled the steaming cup up to his lips. "Not that I don't appreciate it," he added with a wry smirk as he sniffed his coffee appreciatively. I would never understand why he liked that flavor so much. He didn't even add crème or sugar, it was disgusting.

"It's fine dad," I answered while flipping the eggs and sprinkling a bit more cheese on them. "I'd be up at this time anyway," I lied.

While he set the table with napkins, silverware and two glasses of orange juice, I pulled the bacon out of the microwave and heaved a healthy portion of cheesy eggs onto each of our plates. We ate in companionable silence, as was our tradition, and Charlie read the newspaper which he must have grabbed earlier this morning.

It was barely 5:45 when we finished, so I washed the dishes and finished packing his lunch. I quickly made a solid piece of ice shaped like a doughnut to keep his food cool during the day. There was no way I was packing him a real doughnut, so he would simply have to suffice with the one made out of ice. "Dad, I packed you an apple today, you had better eat it," I warned as I closed up his vinyl lunch bag and placed it on the table in front of him.

He chuckled, "Aw Bells, you're too much," he said, shaking his head, "Don't you have a birthday coming up? What're you gonna be, 45 or 46?" he laughed at his own joke and I simply shook my head in mock exasperation.

"I'll be fifteen, for you information," I grinned, "But if you intend on getting any older than 45 or 46 yourself, you had better eat that apple!"

His smile grew and I felt my own broaden in response. I poured some of his nasty coffee in a thermos for him to take to work before ushering him out the door so he wouldn't be late. "Thanks Bells," he said softly as I held the front door open for him.

I simply smiled and nodded my head. He didn't have anything to be thankful for, I was more than happy to help him out. "Oh by the way, I put some pepper spray in your backpack," he said seriously, "I know your school's a little _different_ than most high schools," he cringed as he said the word, "But high school boys are high school boys, and if anybody tries anything..." he cut off menacingly.

"Dad, really?" I complained, "If anybody tries anything at school, I am more than well equipped to incapacitate them," I protested. To prove my point, I focused all my attention on the mailbox at the end of our driveway, covering it completely in a thick layer of ice. "See dad? I can handle myself just fine." And I already had handled myself by freezing that creep, James, yesterday when he tried to touch me. Hopefully he'd think twice before ever doing that again. And hopefully Charlie would never find out about that.

I was glad to see that Charlie didn't look nearly as flustered by my display of icing as he used to when I was younger—back when I would freeze things unintentionally. "Just take the pepper spray to help keep me sane," he pleaded, and I knew there was no way I could refuse such blatant supplication.

"Fine, fine," I agreed huffily, "I'll take the dang spray, now get out of here before you're late for work."

"Alright kiddo," he said with an amused twinkle in his eyes, "Have a great day at school. Be safe," he instructed and I nodded obediently.

"You too," I said. I stared at my narrow, empty driveway for a few minutes after he left. It wasn't even six yet, and the sun still adamantly refused to rise. I had over an hour to kill so I slowly walked back inside to start my shower.

I took longer than usual in the shower, as I stood under the warm water, simply enjoying the sensation. My favorite strawberry SUAVE shampoo was nearly empty so I mentally added that to the list of items I'd need to pick up at the grocery store within the next few days. Since the bus wouldn't arrive for another forty minutes or so once I got out of the shower, I scrupulously combed through every inch of my plain dark brown hair until it hung perfectly straight. I briefly considered curling it today with the curling iron my Grandma Swan had gotten me for Christmas last year. I decided against that plan though once I had the strange ovular shaped device plugged in and heating up. Knowing my luck, I'd probably just burn my ears off—best not to chance it.

Once I was dressed in a plain blue top, jean pants, and a brown jacket, I went in search of my new favorite book of poetry. Once again I gently caressed the cover before opening it and reading through some of the poems I hadn't yet chanced upon. I stalked outside to wait for the bus at 6:55; my mailbox was still a frozen block of ice.

To my consternation, my fellow bus riders didn't seemed to have lost their over-friendliness over night. Like yesterday, I avoided them as best I could and took my seat next to Alice whose smile was brilliant. "Morning Bella," she chanted happily. "Did you sleep well last night?"

"Yep, just not enough," I nodded as I pulled out my schedule to examine my classes. My first class was called "Heroes of Literature" that didn't sound too horrible. "What's your schedule like Alice?" I asked.

She daintily removed it from the forest green binder she was carrying and handed it to me. I noticed her binder matched her long sleeved shirt and high heels perfectly today—apparently she was a fan of color coordination. I held our pale pink schedules side by side and cross examined them to see if we had any classes together. Nothing. In fact, we didn't even have any of the same class titles. While my class schedule was:

7:45-8:45 Heroes of Literature  
8:55-9:55 Geometry and Flight Angles  
10:05-11:05 American History and the Presence of Super Heroes  
11:05-11:45 Lunch  
11:45-12:45 Mad Science Lab 1  
12:55-1:55 Hero Training  
2:05-2:35 Specialized Hero Training

Alice's was very different:

7:45-8:45 Hero Support Training  
8:55-9:55 Earth and Space Science for Sidekicks  
10:05-11:05 Algebraic Equations to Aid Your Hero  
11:05-11:45 Lunch  
11:45-12:45 Support Sayings and English Grammar  
12:55-1:55 The History of Hero Support  
2:05-2:35 Specializations for Hero Support

"Hey we have lunch together!" Alice exclaimed joyfully. "That means you'll get to meet Jazz, he has lunch at that time too!"

"But we don't have any other classes together," I complained, "And who's Jazz?"

"Oh, Jazz," she looked a little embarrassed, "That's Rose's brother, um Jasper?"

"Oh yeah, Jasper!" I giggled, "The one you have a crush on right?"

Alice's face reddened significantly, "Er, is it that obvious?" she questioned quietly.

I nodded merrily as the bus jerked to a stop and Emmett got onboard next. "Hey short stuff, hey ice queen," he greeted us genially.

"Ice queen?" I asked with sheer incredulity in my voice. "You're going to call me ice queen?"

Alice snickered beside me, "Relax Bella, it's better than short stuff."

"I guess," I sighed, "What's your schedule like Emmett?"

He thrust his already crinkled schedule in my hand and I repeated the cross examination, this time with happier results. "Hey we have History together!" I exclaimed, "And Hero Training!"

His dimpled smile made an appearance for the day as he faced us from the seat in front of us. "Let me see your schedule," he said eagerly.

"Try not to wrinkle it like yours," I said dryly as I handed both papers over the seat for his examination.

"Looks like you have Heroes of Literature with Rose," he said matter-of-factly, "Rose is in our Hero Training class as well." He studied both papers for another moment before looking at me curiously, "Why are you in Mad Science Lab?" he asked.

I shrugged, I really had no idea. "Don't you have that class?" I asked, but I couldn't remember seeing it on his schedule now that I thought of it.

"It's not usually a freshmen class. You must have done pretty well in science before coming to this school," he concluded and again I just shrugged. I had always taken advanced science classes, even earned some high school credit for a biology class, but I had assumed all previous sciences would be nearly worthless at this new school. Perhaps that wasn't exactly the case.

I hardly even flinched when we went hurtling off the abandoned road which doubled as a ramp and into the clouds which hung more than a thousand feet above the city. Alice still seemed a little uncomfortable, but I was glad to see that she was decidedly more relaxed than yesterday. I didn't even have to make ice crystals as we flew.

"It's too bad we don't have any of the same classes," I lamented to Alice as we neared the school—which I had learned was able to remain so far up in the air thanks to the anti-gravity device located at the base of the floating island. Apparently anything was possible with Superheroes, and that included defying the previously supposed insurmountable laws of gravity. I had had lots of experience dealing with gravity in the past few years. Gravity seemed to have it out for me actually—always pulling me to the ground or forcing me to trip and fall. I was quite relieved to discover that somebody had actually found a way to conquer that pesky foe.

"Heroes and Sidekicks have different classes as a general rule," Alice explained despondently, "I thought you already knew that."

"It's really kind of annoying that they insist on classifying and separating us like this," I remarked with a fresh scowl, "How can they call somebody a hero simply because of their abilities. They hardly know anything about us."

Alice looked pleased to have somebody agree with her. "_Thank_ you!" she said with a tone which suggested much exasperation, "That's what I've been saying all along. I'm so glad I've found _somebody_ who gets it!"

Emmett was facing us with humor in his eyes. "If you're so upset about being a sidekick, maybe you shouldn't have been such a rebel and showed Coach Boomer a little bit of your awesome plant powers," Emmett teased, with a childish sneer.

Alice glared at him as we landed at the school and carefully removed our safety harnesses, "For the last time Emmett, I do not care what they want to call me. I know what I am and I don't need to prove it to Coach Boomer or really anybody at this school."

He laughed outright. "Except for a certain smooth, older brother of my girlfriend, named Jasper right?"

Alice's scowl grew into a full-on glower as she whipped out of our seat and stormed out of the bus with Emmett following and laughing at her the whole way. I trailed behind the two of them with a jovial grin of my own attached to my face. It would really be quite a task to remain anything but cheerful around those two.

Rose landed next to Emmett and kissed him right on the lips as soon as we exited the bus. She was a ridiculously graceful flyer. "Nice outfit Rose," Alice complimented in a clipped tone as she continued walking away from the pair. She definitely had a point. Rose was dressed in a tan fabric dress with stylish brown suede boots that gave her enough height to almost reach Emmett's nose. I was most amazed by the fact that somehow her hair managed to look perfect even though she had just been flying.

Emmett had stopped short when Rose surprised him with the kiss. I tried not to laugh when I witnessed the most blissful smile lighting his face once I passed him to catch up with Alice. "Is he always like that?" I wondered.

Alice didn't even look at him, "You mean infuriatingly annoying?" she asked.

I laughed, "No, stuck on cloud nine like a love sick puppy dog whenever Rose is within 3 feet of his enormous mass of muscle?"

She managed a small laugh as her ill-humor melted—at least partially. "Yep, Emmett is about as head over heels as they come," she giggled. "It's really one of his most endearing qualities, though it can be a bit annoying at times," she added, "Much like everything else about him when he puts his mind to it."

I grinned and she smiled back. "Have fun in class today," she said as she hugged me goodbye.

"Thanks, you too!" I stood in place as I watched her walk toward the gym for her first class. Rose and Emmett didn't take too long to make their way over to me thankfully.

"Morning Bella," said Rose amiably. I was relieved to see that the casual friendliness I had finally earned in her eyes hadn't waned over night.

With the relief and confidence that I could count on her as a friend today, I didn't have trouble inserting a healthy amount of cheerfulness into my own voice as I responded with a "Hey Rose."

"So I hear we have Heroes in Literature together?" she asked as her eyes fell on Emmett fondly. They were quite adorable together.

I nodded, "I guess it's in the Wayne Building, do you know where that is?" The school wasn't huge, so it probably wouldn't be too difficult to find either way, but there were several buildings to memorize, and I hadn't taken the time to do so yet.

"Sure do, it's right next to Kent Hall," she offered, "We should probably get going so we're not late for our first day of class."

"Lead the way," I said with a smile. She grinned and kissed Emmett goodbye, then we were off to "Heroes in Literature".

Rose and I weren't the last two people to arrive in class thankfully, but everybody who was there already, stared at us shamelessly as we entered. It was bizarre and disconcerting, I didn't like it.

"Hey Rose, Bella," said one girl I hardly recognized from the sorting. She had long strawberry blonde hair, a broad forehead, and gossipy pale blue eyes, "There's two seats here if you'd like," she offered. I looked to Rose to see if she was alright with that and watched her eyes flit about the room, most likely looking for another set of open desks. I took a moment to do the same—nope no other consecutive seats were open. I smiled tentatively, but Rose ignored the girl the same way she ignored everybody else on campus besides her few select friends—myself included.

"Hi, I'm Tanya Denali," said the girl eagerly in response to my small smile, "I'm indestructible," she proclaimed. It took me a beat longer than necessary to realize she was referring to her gift.

"Um cool, I make ice," I said, in an attempt to be social. Rose simply stared at the front of the room as if there were nobody else around. I supposed she didn't like Tanya very much, or most people at the school.

"Oh, I think everybody is well aware of what you do, now everybody just wants to find out about you, and most importantly, find out why we haven't heard of you before," Tanya tittered and I felt my face redden slightly. It seemed Emmett had been right yesterday on the bus. The only reason everybody had been trying to be friendly with me since yesterday was because they liked my super power. I found that I wasn't all that disappointed with the shallowness of my schoolmates, after all I already had Alice and Emmett and most likely Rosalie as friends. I didn't need any more than that anyway.

"Oh, well, I don't really know," I said without the slightest trace of eloquence in my voice. I was ready for this conversation to be over before Tanya could shed light on any other unsavory attributes of Sky High's student body.

Unfortunately, Tanya had other plans. She was nowhere near ready to stop speaking. I wished that I had just stayed quiet like Rose. "I heard this class is supposed to be a piece of cake," said Tanya with a new conspiratorial air in her voice. "The teacher's kind of a creepy guy, so that should be helpful. Some boys say his class is tough, but my sister had this class last year, she said he always gives A's to the girls if you know what I mean." Her corresponding laugh was very high pitched.

While I had been mildly disturbed by what she had said earlier, I felt acutely horrified by the most recent piece of news Tanya had decided to share with me. Why would I ever want to be in a class where the teacher handed out grades to girls he found attractive? When I finally looked to Rosalie for help, the stoic look transformed into a small smirk. She finally turned to face Tanya, and Tanya seemed to take that as encouragement.

She continued to chatter on about various people in the class and who she knew at the school until Rose held her hand up to cut her off. "I hate to cut short your valuable conversation, but please don't speak to me or my friend unless we talk to you first," Rose said in the most superior voice I had ever heard her use. Tanya's face fell instantly and she looked utterly defeated. I almost felt bad for her, but I was kind of relieved that she had finally shut up. I turned to stare at Rose in amazement. She just winked at me and I found myself smiling despite my shock. Rose had just taken the word "aloof" to a whole new level. She was much more of an "Ice Queen", as Emmett liked to say, than I was.

The teacher walked in right after the bell and wrote his name sloppily on the board. He seemed to be a bit heavier-set than he wanted to admit because it looked like the buttons on his shirt were straining. His grey hair was thick and his wide rimmed glasses fell partially off the end of his nose. "I'm Mr. Mason," he said laconically when he finally turned to face us. I wondered what his power was.

"I've been teaching this class for longer than most of you have been alive, I probably taught several of your parents as well," he explained in a monotone. He ignored the gasps from the students as he sprouted another arm to scratch his head while he continued to talk. Seemingly without thought, two more popped up to straighten papers, turn on the overhead screen, and another one typed in his password on the desktop computer in front of him.

I looked down to see that Rose had written a quick note in her perfect loopy script and placed it before me.

_He looks like a creepy version of a Hindu idol with all those arms_

I giggled and she smiled then ripped the paper back to her desk before Tanya's curious eyes got a chance to read it.

Mr. Mason handed out a reading list and I was delighted to see that I had never even heard of, much less read any of the novels on the list. Perhaps this class wouldn't be so bad after all.

"All of the books on your reading list are listed as science fiction or fantasy fiction," Mr. Mason informed us unenthusiastically. "However, as you may have already figured out, these are all actually biographies of superheroes, the majority of which attended this very school."

One of Mr. Mason's many arms reached behind him to pick up a book off his desk. He held it up for our examination. It was called The Brink of Strength. "This story is actually about one of the founders of this very school. While the name of the hero is changed for secrecy purposes in the biography, some of you may very well be acquainted with his great grandson. I believe I have him in a class later on today," he explained.

Once again there was a note before me in Rose's loopy script, it read:

_He's talking about Emmett. Emmett's great grandfather is the hero in that book._

I felt my eyes grow large in my head. "Really?" I asked. I hadn't meant to say it out loud. Mr. Mason looked at me pointedly, I struggled for an explanation. "I—er, I just, um…" Luckily Rose came to my rescue.

"Bella and I were just discussing the enormous contribution to mankind made by Emmett's great grandfather when he helped found the school," Rose said confidently.

"Indeed," said Mr. Mason, "Mr. McCarty was a fine man and a marvelous superhero." Mr. Mason droned on for the remainder of the class while Rose and I passed notes and counted down the minutes until we were free to leave. I knew it was immature, but I simply couldn't bring myself to care. It was fun, and I rather liked having Rose as a friend.

Geometry and Flight Angles sounded like a class that I could actually learn to like, despite my typical disaffinity to math. I only recognized a few people in the class, but as with my other classes, everybody seemed to know me. I sat in the back of the room and did my best to ignore the stares of my classmates while I listened to the teacher.

At the end of class, the small baby-faced kid I remembered to be named Mike attempted to make small talk as he essentially followed me to my history class. He was talkative like Tanya and I found myself nodding at what seemed to be appropriate spaces in the one-sided conversation—not really paying much attention. "So how did you do it?" he asked suddenly. His question startled me since he hadn't really required much input from me up to that point.

"Excuse me?" I deadpanned.

"How did you levitate like that yesterday during the sorting?" he said without the slightest hint of impatience.

"Oh that," I replied, preparing to explain myself.

Fortunately, he had more to say, so I was able to remain quiet and passive in the conversation, "It was the coolest thing I've ever seen!" he exclaimed. "And trust me; I've seen a lot of cool things. Did you know I can transform into a pretty much indestructible creature made of solid stone?"

Following the flow of earlier part of this conversation I nodded and prepared to tune him out. "Yeah, I guess you probably saw that during the sorting. Coach Boomer only had a small car dropped on me, but I wish he would have dropped a semi-truck on me like he did with Emmett McCarty. I definitely could have managed that. You know one time I picked up my whole house. I picked it right up off the ground, it was so awesome!"

"Awesome," I agreed inelegantly.

Despite my inattentiveness and the brusque nature of my remark, Mike's face lit up with the supposed compliment. I wondered if sarcasm ceased to exist when there were super heroes involved. "Get lost Newton," said Emmett suddenly, making me jump. We were standing outside my history class—apparently Emmett had been waiting for me, which was actually kind of nice.

Mike didn't look intimidated in the slightest by Emmett's towering height or rippling muscles which were very much in evidence beside me. "_You_ get lost McCarty, I'm talking to Bella." Mike countered, boldly. I didn't like his possessive tone one bit.

I looked to Emmett for help and he grinned evilly, "And you think Bella is impressed by the fact that you turn into a giant boulder?" he taunted him.

Mike look flustered for a moment before he came up with a disturbingly testosterone-fueled answer. "A boulder that could take you, anytime anywhere," Mike said fearlessly. I cringed, this was not the kind of help I had had in mind when I enlisted Emmett's services.

Emmett, however, looked delighted by the turn of events, "Bring it Newton, I'll make you wish you weren't born." My face lifted into a partial grin without my permission at Emmett's taunting remark—simply because that had to have been the cheesiest threat I had ever heard.

Emmett's face was alight with excitement. I hoped he didn't take my small, involuntary grin as a sign of approval. As I recalled Emmett's reaction to seeing Mike demonstrate his powers during sorting yesterday, I began to wonder how long he had wanted to fight Mike anyway. "Meet me after school in front of the flag poles, and then we'll settle this once and for all," said Mike severely and I had to cover my mouth to stifle my laughter. This was getting more and more idiotic by the minute.

"Why wait, Newton, you scared?" Emmett goaded him further. And at that, Emmett pushed him—hard. Mike went flying into the lockers behind us and before anything else could be said, he had transformed into said giant boulder and he now looked far more than ready to fight. Oh no, this was not happening.

"Cool it, guys!" I shouted, and almost without thought I froze both of them solid in their places. Unfortunately, the fighting and subsequent freezing had caused quite a stir and when I looked away from Emmett's frozen form I was met face-to-face with Principal Powers. She didn't look pleased.

"Hello Bella," she said sternly, "Care to explain yourself?" Oh no.

I felt frozen myself for a minute while I tried to gather an appropriate response. I was pretty sure that fighting would be basis for some sort of disciplinary action and I really didn't want Emmett to get in trouble on my behalf—though I was also rather certain that Emmett had been just itching for a reason to fight Mike ever since he saw his power yesterday.

"I, um, I…" I used to be articulate.

"Alright that's enough Miss Swan," said Principal Powers, taking pity on me and halting my stuttering, "Just don't let it happen again." She winked at me and walked away, and that was that. I turned back to Emmett with bewilderment stated plainly on every millimeter of my face—he was still unable to move. Why wasn't I in trouble? Why weren't Emmett and Mike in trouble? I had just frozen two boys in the hallway to keep them from tearing each other's heads off! This school was so strange.

"Sorry Emmett, you should defrost in a little less than an hour," I apologized as I walked around him into the history class. Several people stared at the two ice sculptures with gleeful smirks on their faces as they walked into class. How embarrassing.

The class itself seemed like it would be, for the most part, very similar to my English class. We would be learning about some of America's greatest cover ups and the truth behind what really happened in a variety of cases which were made to look like natural disasters. For instance, it turned out Hurricane Katrina had actually been the work of a weather controlling super villain. The flooding of New Orleans had been just a minor part of what he had been really trying to do—flood the entire United States. The villain was fortunately defeated by a super hero with the power to teleport to any location on the planet—he teleported the villain to an island with a volcano and the villain was never heard from again. And I thought an anti-gravity device suspending a high school for super heroes in the sky was hard enough to swallow; now I had to relearn history. This was a crazy world we lived in.

About halfway through the period, Emmett walked into class with soaking wet hair and clothes. I was surprised, and somewhat relieved, to see that he was actually smiling at me. "Way to go Ice Queen, I've been wondering what that would feel like ever since you froze that James kid yesterday. I didn't think I would find out so soon!" he whisper yelled. The teacher ignored him.

"Is Mike still frozen out there?" I wondered. Emmett nodded with a mischievous smirk on his face. I decided I didn't even want to know what he had done.

"Turns out brainless boulders take a lot longer to thaw out than smokin' hot men such as myself," he chuckled. I rolled my eyes.

After history, I found Alice sitting in the lunch room with a handsome boy whom I had to assume was Jasper, based solely on his resemblance to Rosalie. He had blonde hair and serene blue eyes, both the exact shade as Rosalie's. It was hard to tell since he was sitting, but he looked pretty tall as well. I wondered if Alice would even reach his shoulder in her highest heeled shoes.

"Bella!" said Alice excitedly when I approached her table, "You made it!"

I smiled happily and put my tray down beside her. "This is Jasper Hale, Rosalie's brother," she introduced, "Jasper, this is Bella Swan."

I held out my hand and felt inordinately relaxed when he placed his hand in mine. That probably had something to do with his gift. I slid in between the bench and the table carefully so I wouldn't fall or make a fool out of myself. Everybody was always watching me now, everywhere I went—which meant there would be increased opportunities for me to make a fool of myself in front of a large audience.

Jasper eyed me curiously. "Aren't you the hero who can control ice?" he asked suddenly. I noticed that his eyes were reeling with a poorly hidden emotion which looked something like foreboding. It reminded me of the worry I had grown used to seeing in my father's eyes.

I looked to Alice but she simply shrugged. Apparently she wasn't the one to fill him in about my ability. "That's me," I agreed dryly. I was quickly tiring of the fact that my reputation seemed to precede me now.

"It's nice to meet you," his smile was still a bit tight, making his face look uneasy. I wondered what that was about.

Two more people—one boy and one girl—joined us at our table. They looked to be a bit older than Alice and me so I figured they must be Jasper's friends. "Hi Carmen, hi Eleazar," said Alice happily, "This is Bella Swan. She's in my grade," she explained.

The girl had long dark hair and brown eyes. I was relieved to see that if she knew who I was already she didn't flaunt it. "So 'ow are you liking Sky High so far?" she asked with a charming Castilian accent, "It's good, no?"

"I like it pretty well," I answered truthfully, "I mean, high school is high school no matter who attends or where it's located. I just wish I had a few classes with Alice." And I wished everybody would stop staring at me, but I decided not to mention that part.

Eleazar looked surprised by my admission nonetheless. "Really? You don't have a single class with Alice and you're in the same year? That's beating the odds right there," he commented with a small laugh, "It's not like this is a huge school, usually you have at least one class with everybody in your grade," he explained. Eleazar's eyes were dark like Carmen's but his hair was a bit lighter.

Jasper coughed a little bit, "Um, Bella's in the Hero School, Eleazar," he said uncomfortably. Eleazar and Carmen both looked dumbfounded by that information. I didn't know why that information was so shocking, but I was glad to see that they at least didn't know who I was already.

"Oh," said Eleazar.

Carmen seemed to be lost in thought for a few seconds before she spoke again, "Wait, you are _the_ Bella?" Carmen said in surprise, "You are the one who covered the gym floor in ice and locked the Coach Boomer in a cage 20 feet off the ground, Bella?" she looked stunned when I nodded. Eleazar looked at me with certain bewilderment now as well.

"Why is that so amazing?" I asked in exasperation, "I mean, Emmett threw a semi-truck across the entire gym without even flinching and Alice can control plants!" I said with increasing volume, "How is controlling ice any different or any better?"

Alice laughed at me while the others stared with half awed, half amused expressions on their faces in response to my ranting. "Oh Bella, relax," Alice chided, "It's just that you're like a shiny new toy here at Sky High," she said in what I assumed was supposed to be a soothing tone. Her statement only served to annoy me further though.

"How am I a shiny new toy?" I demanded further, "All the other freshmen are new as well!"

Carmen's Spanish accent halted my speech this time, "The super 'eroes at Sky High come from long lines of 'eroes that 'ave known each other and about each other for all they're lives. But nobody knows where you came from exactly. Usually undiscovered powers, such as yours, only ever turn out to be 'ero support. But not you, no you are very different."

Suddenly a shrill voice called my name from behind, effectively interrupting the conversation. "Bella? Bella is that you?" I recognized the voice instantly and cringed. I turned to find three girls standing behind me, each staring at me curiously.

"Yes Tanya, what can I do for you?" I said diplomatically. I didn't really find it necessary to be as dismissive as Rose.

"Bella can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked quietly. One of the girls beside her had short curly brown hair while the other had long platinum blonde. They each looked impressed by Tanya's boldness in speaking to me. I found their behavior somewhat laughable.

I looked to Alice questioningly and she daintily shrugged as she had earlier. I stood up and followed the three girls to a corner of the cafeteria a few feet away from Alice's table. "Um, what's up?" I asked once we came to a halt.

Tanya gave me a long calculating look before she spoke. "I didn't want to be rude to your _friends_," she said uncertainly, angling her head toward Alice's direction. "I just wanted to invite you to sit with us and a few of our friends from Hero class for lunch," she said, "We only have room for one more," she added hastily.

I stared at her in confusion for a moment, "Um, didn't you see I was already sitting with people?" I wondered.

The shorter girl with the curly hair coughed, "Didn't you know they're just sidekicks?" she asked in a nasally voice as she fingered the beading on her purse. I found I instantly disliked this threesome for even remotely suggesting that being sidekicks made them any less worthy lunch companions.

"Yes, for your information," I infused as much snide attitude into my voice as I could—essentially channeling my inner Rosalie, "I was well aware of their supposed status, but _thank you_, for your concern. Is that all you had to say to me, or was there something else?"

"But you can't sit with them!" protested the blonde haired girl, "That's not how this school works!"

I decided not to dignify that with a response and I turned on my heels to return to my place at the table with Alice. I took satisfaction in the fact that I had frozen the feet of Tanya and her idiot friends to the ground so they wouldn't be able to move for the remainder of the lunch period. If they thought they could tell me where to sit, they had another thing coming.

When I returned to my seat, the magenta haired girl from my grade and the dark haired, visor wearing boy who could supposedly glow had joined the group at the table. "Welcome back Bella, did you have a good chat?" Alice asked playfully.

I grinned, "I've had better."

"Bella, this is Angela Webber and Ben Cheney," she introduced me to the two people I vaguely remembered from yesterday.

"Sup Bella," said Ben with a smirk before his eyes fell back on Angela. Angela simply inclined her head in one brisk nod, allowing her magenta hair to fall across her face. Her eyes remained wary.

"Nice to meet you," I said warmly, hoping to disarm whatever reservations she had about me.

"So is there a reason Tanya, Jessica, and Lauren are still standing over there looking a bit flustered?" Alice asked with a conspiratorial grin.

Eleazar spoke before I could though, "They were attempting to inform Bella of the unofficial seating arrangements in the lunchroom at Sky High," Eleazar said smoothly. I stared at him in confusion.

"Can you read minds?" I wondered.

He smiled but shook his head. "No, I have super hearing," he explained, "I can hear things from over a mile away."

"That's pretty cool," I complimented. He simply nodded absently and began playing with a strand of Carmen's long hair.

"So what you just froze them so they couldn't move at all?" Angela finally spoke with her no-nonsense tone of voice.

"Just the bottoms of their shoes," I explained, "Although I probably should have frozen their mouths shut too, now that I think of it," I mused.

Angela finally cracked a smile. Alice giggled as well.

"Sure hope they don't get cold feet trying to talk to anybody else," Ben quipped and with that the whole table burst out laughing, I was glad to see that the earlier tension had dissipated.

"Wow Ben, that was probably the saddest attempt at humor I've ever heard," Angela laughed. He seemed pleased with himself, despite the fact that we were laughing at him, not with him.

"Why did you do that?" Jasper asked, giving me a hard look once everybody had calmed down.

I shrugged, "I figured if they were going to complain about my seating preferences then perhaps they didn't need to sit at all." Jasper grinned at me, and Alice's smile was bigger and brighter than I'd ever seen before.

"Guess you froze them in their place," Ben said softly with a smirk, just for Angela. She shook her head in exasperation and flicked him on the arm.

"Do the world a favor Ben, and don't ever pursue a career in comedy," Angela said sarcastically. I was thrilled that at least somebody around here could appreciate and use sarcasm. Angela and I would get along great as far as I could tell.

Lunch went pretty smoothly after that. I enjoyed the friendly conversations of my new side kick friends, and I really only had one complaint—well two if you counted the fact that everybody seemed to think it wasn't rude to stare at me, but I was almost getting used to ignoring that feeling. I had been struggling to squash a completely different, tingly feeling in my stomach the entire lunch period as well, but this one was not so easily ignored. I kept my eyes unwaveringly trained on the fellow occupants of my lunch table for as long as I could until almost the end of the lunch period when I could fight the curiosity no longer. After ensuring that everybody else was otherwise entertained, I casually glanced over to the table by the window, hoping that if Alice caught me she would assume I was just examining her handiwork with the plant from yesterday.

The plant was indeed still blocking the window with its heavy looking vines, but that wasn't what kept my eyes in place on the opposite side of the lunch room. It was him. He was still sitting there, looking bored and contemplative, and most of all, beautiful. His bronze hair shined in the dispersed light of the now partially shaded window. His brow looked furrowed, he almost looked… angry? My curious feeling I had been fighting the entire lunch period grew exponentially as I tried to read the look on his face. What was he thinking?

"Bella?"

"Bella, hello?" I looked up startled, and was met by Alice's smug grin—much to my dismay. "What're you looking at, Bella?" she asked, far too innocently for my taste.

"I, er, your plant," I struggled to make my preconceived lie sound convincing. Alice didn't look the slightest bit convinced.

"We were just discussing the Homecoming Dance which will be coming up in a few short weeks," Alice said in a voice which made me think she might be lying.

"Oh," was all I managed to say.

"This morning I heard it was supposed to be Girl's Choice this year, isn't that exciting Bella?" she asked again in a sugary sweet tone which made me very suspicious. I studied Jasper's features out of the corner of my eye; he was looking on suspiciously as well.

"Um, I guess so?" I replied dubiously.

"Just letting you know," she smiled, too brightly, "You should start looking for a date early," she advised, "You never know, maybe you'll find one in your next class; didn't you say it was Mad Science Lab 1?"

I nodded as my suspicions grew. She was up to something; there was no doubt in my mind. However, I didn't have time to figure because we had to head to class. I fought my desire to wave at Tanya and her friends—what had Alice called them? Jessica and Lauren?—as I followed Alice and Jasper out of the cafeteria.

While we walked, I took the opportunity to observe the two of them and their relationship in a way I hadn't during lunch. There was definitely more going on between them than Alice had been letting on. Whenever Alice moved in the slightest, Jasper, seemingly unconsciously did the same. Their arms hovered so close to each other as they walked; I was sure that they must have been able to feel the heat emanating from the other person.

Whenever Jasper smiled, Alice's smile grew infinitesimally, and heaven forbid he frown, Alice's own expression would look nearly devastated. They were like planets or satellites of each other, hovering close enough to never lose sight of the other, held together by gravitational forces. I wondered how they couldn't see it themselves.

"Bella aren't you going the wrong way?" Jasper asked, interrupting my contemplations. I stared at him in confusion.

"Huh?"

"Your class?" he asked and when nothing registered on my face, he pressed further, "Mad Science Lab? In the Parker Building? Ring any bells?"

I felt my flush of embarrassment at being caught lost in my own fairy tale land. "Oh! Right, that way," I quickly reversed my direction and made my way back to the building where we had picked up our class schedules yesterday. Unfortunately, I was on the wrong side of campus so I was late to class. Much to my dismay and embarrassment, the teacher had already begun class in the science lab so he had to stop in the middle of his lecture when I arrived just outside the door of the classroom.

As I peered through the window of the locked door waiting to gain entrance, I was struck by the enormous, skin colored oblong shape I saw moving about in the place the teacher's head should be. When the teacher turned to come to the door, I realized that the strange shape was actually his head. Around his mouth, and the bottom half of his face, everything appeared to be normal in size and shape, but just above his eyes there expanded a massive bulge which I assumed was necessary to house what must be a colossal brain. He had no hair on his face or head, save for his eyebrows, and he wore large glasses without rims pushed all the way up to the valley of his nose. I vaguely remembered Emmett mentioning something about super geniuses with brain capacities far too vast for a typical sized brain.

"How considerate of you to join us Isabella," said the teacher with a tone which clearly said, _"I'm a genius, you're not, don't stare at my head."_

"Um Bella," I corrected him unthinkingly, and then quickly covered my mouth as my face began to fill with sickeningly red warmth.

"Pardon?" he wondered. I took the opportunity to notice that his voice was rather high pitched for a male. I did my best not to smirk at my newfound observation.

"Sorry, I just prefer to be called Bella," I explained hesitantly.

Fortunately he seemed amused by my inability to hold my tongue and he smiled with one thin line of his lips, turning up slightly at the edges. "Very well Bella, please refrain from being late in the future."

"Yes sir," I agreed. He looked appeased.

"I have one available lab seat in the back left corner," he explained, "I've already taken the liberty of adding your name to the seating chart, so kindly make your way to the seat so I may resume the lecture."

I nodded and walked timidly into the classroom. All the faces in the class were unfamiliar and they stared at me with a mixture of confusion and amusement. As I made my way down the left hand row of lab desks, I stopped short the moment I identified my own, the only empty one in the class, for in the seat adjacent to mine I found a face which was not unfamiliar. In fact, though I had never even seen this face up close, I was certain that I had every single one of the perfect features memorized. It was Edward, and once again he looked angry.

**A/N Thanks for reading! I apologize for the choppiness in some places. It's high school though, awkward choppiness is necessary.**

**Now who wants to know what Edward's thinking? Why does he always look so contemplative and angry? Leave me a review and I'll see what I can do. Is anybody interested in seeing the first day of school through Edward's eyes? I sure hope so!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N Sorry for the delay everybody! The much anticipated EPOV is here! Thanks for all the reviews, I live for them---and they were really helpful when I was redoing this whole chapter (Yes I'm a computer idiot and I accidentally deleted it the first time around).**

**Disclaimer: Twilight + Sky High = Awesome  
****Assume: I did not create Twilight or Sky High  
****Therefore by the rule of transitivity, and a proof by contradiction:  
****I am not awesome :/  
****So, read the story and leave a review to make me feel better about myself ;)**

Chapter 4 – Life of Fire – EPOV

"Have a good first day of school honey," said Esme sweetly as I prepared to teleport. I was so glad I didn't have to ride the bus anymore with the incessantly grating members of my class at Sky High.

"Thanks Esme," I said with as much enthusiasm in my voice I could muster. It wasn't her fault I attended school with a bunch of mindless imbeciles; I didn't need to vent my frustration on her at having three more years to suffer through.

Esme and Carlisle were some of the best parents one could even think to ask for in my opinion. They adopted me when I was barely a toddler and Alice came shortly thereafter. All three of them were some of the most caring and good hearted people in this entire world, and I was lucky to have them.

I pressed the button on the teleporter swiftly as I waved goodbye to Esme and watched with near boredom as the warm browns of Carlisle's study were replaced with the pale walls and chattering of students in a classroom at Sky High. I found myself inside one of the larger rooms in Robert Bruce Banner Hall with several other sophomores and upperclassmen super heroes. How I detested these infuriating weak minded students with supposed super powers which gave each and every one of them a superiority complex.

They all fancied themselves superheroes, simply because a man in gym shorts with a loud voice told them they were. It was frankly pathetic, and I didn't want any part of it. Perhaps having a super villain as a father made me a cynic. Typically, the students at Sky High were happy to give me a wide berth and steer clear of me throughout the torturously long days here. However—and unfortunately, here in this crowded teleportation classroom, I found I had to push my way through the rambunctious students in order to head to my first class.

As I rounded the corner near the main staircase, I came across two of my least favorite people at Sky High—though I did find them mildly amusing despite myself. They were bullies, there was no denying that fact (one of the reasons I disliked them), but I found it rather refreshing that they weren't robotically pressing to become this ludicrous idea of a superhero like just about everybody else at this inane school. They were really my least favorite though because they refused to leave me alone—the way everybody else did—the way I liked it.

" 'Sup Cullen," said the light haired one with a smirk. His name was James and he had super-human speed. The darker one, Laurent had the ability to stretch his arms and legs almost infinitely. He was more afraid of me than James though so he simply regarded me with a curt nod. I had stopped walking and was now leaning against the railing on the staircase with my arms crossed. James and Laurent walked over—apparently they were feeling extraordinarily sociable after the too-short summer break, and now they wanted to chat.

Nothing but bored curiosity kept me in my place as I waited to see what they had to say to me today. "We were about to go give some freshmen a proper welcoming to the school in a few minutes here if you wanted to join," James tried to make his shrewd voice sound appealing. "We could definitely use some firepower if you know what I mean," he allowed his overly bold eyes to fall on my hands expectantly and I felt my own eyes glaze over in annoyed fury. Did he truly think he could coerce me into helping him do his dirty work just like Laurent? I saw red and felt my body temperature increasing, if I didn't control myself, steam would start seeping out of my ears and nostrils soon.

I instilled as much ice into my voice as possible when I spoke, "Don't you have better things to do, James, than hang out with a bunch of freshmen?" I asked condescendingly. I didn't wait for a response as I turned on the dot and made my way up the stairs toward my classroom. I didn't care that I'd be early; I much preferred the solitude of an empty classroom to the immaturity of the students in this place.

About halfway up the stairs I turned back to face James and Laurent who were both looking a bit flustered, "Oh and Laurent," I called jauntily, "Your shoe laces are on fire," I laughed privately at my own joke as I finished my ascent to the second floor. I didn't need to wait around to see the horrified expression which I was certain would be plastered on Laurent's face when he found out that I had set fire to his laces. I would rely on him to dissuade James from attempting to speak to me ever again.

The next few classes passed without incidence, and they were as boring and tiresome as usual. Everybody had already learned to avoid me by now so I didn't have to deal with any of the petty attempts at conversation I had faced during my first few days of school last year. I had first lunch, so the freshmen would be crowding the cafeteria today which meant that some unlucky freshman or two would probably try to sit at my table. For their sakes, I hoped they would simply steer clear or I would have to make an example of them.

Fortunately my class let out early and I was one of the first people to reach the cafeteria. After picking up a tray-full of lunch I made my way to my usual spot in the corner by the window and settled in for what would most likely be a long and annoying lunch period. As the freshmen began filing in I noticed my sister Alice, well foster sister really, but for all intents and purposes I truly didn't mind referring to her as my sister. She was scheduled to be sorted today; I wondered how that would go.

Alice was much more of a free thinking individual than the average student here at Sky High. Ever since she first heard about the sorting from her friend Rosalie's older brother Jasper Hale, she had been furiously opposed to the idea. Mostly I think she just couldn't comprehend how the school could call Jasper anything other than a hero after he had "saved" her from the rabid lion at the zoo when she was five years old. It would be important to note that the lion was securely locked in its cage and was no real threat to five year old Alice, but Jasper had used his gift to lull the lion to sleep so that he couldn't growl at her. I was pretty sure that was the day she fell in love with him—though she had yet to admit it nine years later.

When Alice saw me sitting alone, she smiled brightly and, much to my dismay, began leading her friends over to my table. I quickly shook my head, telling her I didn't approve of that idea and she scowled at me as she set her tray down at a different table. I tried to send her a small smile as an apology, but she simply shook her head and picked up a conversation with the enormous freshman I knew as Emmett. He and Rosalie were Alice's two closest friends and I had vaguely gotten to know them throughout their hundreds of visits to my house.

Rose and Emmett weren't the most annoying people I had ever met in my life, so when they came to my house I was generally polite to them for Alice's sake at the very least. Emmett was huge and always looking for a challenge of strength. As for his girlfriend, Rose, while Alice insisted that she had a warm, caring heart, I certainly never would have guessed as much. Alice seemed to be under the impression that I was a halfway decent person as well, and that was certainly debatable.

As I finished my perfunctory scan of the faces of her two friends, my eyes landed on the soft features of a girl I didn't recognize. She was beautiful—and not in the made up, superficial way that Rosalie was. She was classically beautiful with pale, nearly translucent skin and dark brown hair which looked incredibly soft and contrasted exquisitely with her skin. Her small frame appeared to be thin under her bulky clothing, but it was hard to tell at this distance. Her eyes though, oh her eyes. I couldn't bring myself to look away from them. Though the girl and I were separated by countless students, tables, and a whole world of differences, I felt like I could just swim in her eyes. They were so deep and perceptive, soft and warm, chocolaty even. But who was she?

I found myself staring at her for an unfathomable amount of time; it might have been seconds, but it very well might have been minutes—I wasn't really keeping track of time. She was talking with Alice now and suddenly her head of dark silky brown hair turned in my direction. I heard a soft rustling behind me and I flipped my head around to see that there was a small plant in the window and it was growing at a remarkable rate—no doubt the work of Alice. Its branches grew into vines wider than my legs and the small purple flowers were covering most of the window. I shook my head and allowed a small smile on my face as I looked up to meet the gaze of Alice. She had a wide, evil smirk on her tiny face, as if she knew something or as if she had caught me doing something I would hate to admit to—not good. I glared at her in a way which would have made just about anybody at this school cower, but she simply lifted one of her manicured eyebrows in challenge and turned back to her table. Nobody seemed to be the wiser.

Alice had returned to speaking with her friends, but every few minutes she would glance over at me expectantly—the Cheshire smirk on her face alerting me to the fact that she probably now thought she had leverage on me. I knew exactly what she was thinking, the smirk was that readable. In her mind, I had been blatantly staring at her dark haired lunch companion with a look I couldn't even bring myself to imagine firmly planted on my typically passive face. In high school terms, the most logical explanation for such behavior would be a crush or even just mindless hormonal attraction. And now Alice was going to think that I felt something like that toward her newly acquired friend—admittedly my subconscious was already planning ways to make sure I was present and accounted for next time Alice had her friends over.

I breathed out in a huff and attempted to halt my rapid scheming and dabbling in the world of high school idiocy. The girl was undeniably beautiful, but she was probably used to having guys fawn all over her, much like Rosalie. I immediately began chastising myself and my own juvenile lack of self control. There were beautiful people everywhere, why should this girl be special? Apart from the porcelain skin, lush brown hair, inviting pink lips, and eyes that I could imagine bathing in, what possible attraction could she hold over me? She was likely just like everybody else at this school, mindlessly following the crowd in an attempt to be a super hero.

The more I thought about it, the angrier I became with myself for even being momentarily attracted to her. It was simply ridiculous. Even if she did happen to be a halfway decent person, I still couldn't be with her, I was too dangerous. My gift was far too dangerous to begin any sort of physical relationship—I would probably hurt her. I glanced over at her unconsciously and took in once again her soft touchable cheeks. I didn't want to hurt her. I couldn't live with myself if I damaged a square centimeter of that flawless skin.

I stared at my lunch tray, ignoring everybody around me. I already knew that I could never have a relationship with anybody—Carlisle had warned me how dangerous it would be if I lost control for the smallest second. I could ignite this entire school with angry flames in the blink of an eye. Even though I practically despised this school and everything it represented, that thought made me shudder. I would never forget the time I accidentally burned down our house when I was seven. Luckily nobody was injured, and Esme claimed that there was nothing inside that the insurance wouldn't replace, but what if there had been? What if Alice had been locked in her room listening to music or reading through one of those magazines she treasured? She could have been seriously injured—or worse!

I hardly noticed the students around me as the filed out of the cafeteria; I was too focused on my thoughts. Lost in the pain of that memory and the reminder of yet another reason I needed to stay as far away from others as possible. When I finally noticed the unfamiliar silence filling the otherwise empty cafeteria, I realized I would be late for class. In a huff of anger I accidentally lit my entire tray with red hot fire. I rushed over to the nearest fire extinguisher and ripped it off the wall. I had plenty of experience with fire equipment so I was able to put out the flaming lunch tray before the fire could spread throughout the cafeteria. I imagined that if I wasn't such a hazard I would probably make a pretty decent fire fighter.

Though I was mostly grumpy that I would be late for class, I nevertheless felt relieved that there was nobody around to be burned by my accidental flame. As I picked up the ashes which once used to be my tray, a slew of images crept into my consciousness which made me halt in my tracks. Images of Alice's friend's beautiful face covered in burns and gauzy wrapping which made her look like a mummy. I swallowed hard, that would be the result of any close contact between me and the girl. I would never let that come to pass.

Firmly resolved in my decision to avoid Alice's friend the same way I avoided everybody else at this school, I walked swiftly through the lunchroom and toward the Parker Building for my Mad Science Lab with Dr. Banner.

Once I got there, I was shocked to find that the door to the lab was wide open—unusual since Dr. Banner's motto was "A locked lab is the key to success". I entered cautiously and looked around until my eyes finally landed near the overhead projector. Suddenly, an intense red light flashed in the room, followed by a green one. I blinked and automatically allowed two bright, dangerous balls of flame to form in each of my hands, ready for whatever use I deemed fit.

A computerized woman's voice sounded from a small black speaker on Dr. Banner's lab desk. "Edward Cullen, tardy," The voice announced to the empty room. I quickly smothered my flaming hands when I realized that this was simply Dr. Banner's attendance system.

I watched the speaker box impatiently as I waited for whatever instructions Dr. Banner had created for us today. A buzz and the sound of a small explosion filled the room, emanating from the small speaker, and finally Dr. Banner's high pitched voice filled the room. I had never had a class with Dr. Banner before, but last year he gave a speech on the last day of my science class, telling us why we should—or in some cases shouldn't—take this class. He was a super genius with a strange shaped head, and extremely eccentric if my initial judgments could be trusted. He was also somewhat of a super hero collector, or so I had heard. It was my opinion that he enjoyed the connections to people with powerful gifts so he could study the gifts and work on duplicating them. He had insisted I take his class.

"Welcome students, to your first day of Mad Science Lab 1," said Dr. Banner's reedy voice, slightly static-y because of the speaker, "Today is an individual study day because I am busy in my own lab completing experiments which are far too advanced for the meager thought processes undergone by high school students, thank you and have an enriching day," he finished right before the sound of another explosion filled the room from the speaker.

It seemed the genius Dr. Banner knew little to nothing about the inner workings of a high school student's mind. Had he really intended we study individually without a teacher to oversee us, without even sending a substitute? Now that was just laughable.

I quickly contemplated what to do with my suddenly free period. Since everybody in the class had decided to leave, I could hang out here and enjoy a rare moment of peace and quiet at this school. Truthfully, I was a bit disappointed that Dr. Banner had decided not to show up today—his class was actually one I was looking forward to as a change of pace from the typical Hero oriented classes offered at the school. I ran a hand through my unruly hair and decided to wander around campus and enjoy one of the last warm days before winter, rather than sit alone and brood in this classroom.

It was definitely a nice day outside, but unfortunately the courtyard was filled with the other members of my class who must have had the same idea. I sat down on a bench beneath a large oak tree and did my best to ignore my classmates. I didn't even bother to marvel at the fact that a large oak tree was planted on a flying island in the middle of the sky. I was used to the anomalies of this school. I stared at some of the clouds as they passed remarkably close to the roof of the school and the top of the oak tree. Before long though, one of my classmates decided that they didn't want to ignore me.

"Hey Edward," crooned Kate Denali, a girl in my same year, "Is this seat taken?" she asked flirtatiously.

I rolled my eyes and carefully lit the other half of the bench on fire so that it quickly burned into nothing, "What seat?"

She laughed uncomfortably, "Er, never mind, so are you in Dr. Banner's class?" she asked.

I said nothing and simply glared at her, wondering how long it would take for her to realize I didn't want to talk. I had once overheard Kate telling her friend Irinia Stephens that she had a thing for bad boys or something similarly ridiculous. I severely hoped she would get over her infatuation with me and move on with her life.

I assumed she wasn't scared of me because she was, in her words, "indestructible". Both she and her younger sister had skin which was supposedly tougher than diamond, but there was no way she could coerce me into touching it to find out for sure.

She looked over her shoulder uncomfortably and made eye contact with Irinia. "Well, I guess I'll go see what Irinia wants," she said awkwardly, and then she sauntered off to join her friend. When they started giggling and looking over at me I decided to take my cue to leave so that nobody else could round up enough audacity to approach me.

Without conscious thought, I ended up just outside the gymnasium and I decided to take a look inside to see what Alice was up to—all freshmen were sorted in the gym on the first day of school. However, when I slowly peered into the large paned windows of the double doors, I completely froze. The sight before me was unlike anything I had ever witnessed before. The floors were covered with a thick sheet of ice and there was an enormous icy stair-like structure with Coach Boomer locked in a frozen jail cell up top. And while all of that was crazy enough, the most astounding sight of all was just as terrifying as it was beautiful. It was the girl from lunch—Alice's friend. She was sort of hovering several feet above the sorting stage with her arms extended wide as if she were the angel of death. Her hair was flying everywhere and there was a fog-like steam emanating from her every extremity. There were snow crystals hanging at the tips of each strand of her thick, brown hair—though now it looked almost black. And her eyes were two white glowing spheres, which were frightening, and exquisite. She was magnificent.

It took me a good long minute to realize I had physically stopped breathing. She had quite literally taken my breath away. After a few more seconds, Coach Boomer's voice echoed throughout the gym and carried through the thin double doors, creating a large crack in his icy container. "Hero, Hero, HERO!" he screamed and the entire gymnasium broke out into raucous applause. The stunned face on Alice's friend Emmett was extremely comical. So it seemed Alice's friend could conjure ice from thin air. That was interesting, to say the least.

In a daze I stumbled away from the gym, trying to regain my composure after what I had just witnessed. When I was about halfway between the gym and the Wayne Building, the sun had thawed out my brain enough for me to start castigating myself for my embarrassing behavior. I had made it a whole year here at this school without any of the numb skull students affecting me whatsoever. Why was it that in one day, my whole world was suddenly so different? I hadn't even talked to the girl, but she was now the center of my every thought. Who was she?

Sure she was beautiful, but that meant nothing. Beauty was only skin deep. Underneath her staggering exterior, I knew there would have to be a mindless hero worshipping girl just like everybody else at this school. I hated that I had let myself be so affected by her outer beauty, and then even more so by her exhibition of power. My only option now, if I were to have any hope of recovering myself, would be to completely forget about her. She was a year behind me; there was no need for me to see her at all. If Alice decided to bring her over to our house, I would simply leave or lock myself in my room. Avoiding her would be simple. It would be natural.

I banished all thoughts of her for the remainder of the day and did my best to enjoy myself during general hero training. My final class of the day was specialized hero training. It was scheduled to be lead by Dr. Banner, but he was still absent, so I was able to teleport home early—much to Esme's delight. Tomorrow would be a new day. Avoiding the dark haired girl would be my top priority—avoiding everybody else would be second on my list from now on. If I saw her at lunch I would not stare, I would not pay any attention to her. Most likely she wouldn't be in my lunch period anyway. As soon as I forgot about her, I would move on with my life. Simple. It would be too simple. That brown haired, brown eyed girl would one day be no more than a barely recognizable face. I would see to it.

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**Do you see that cool line I made??? (Yes I know, you're all jealous of my line making abilities)**

**A/N Something tells me Edward's wrong and it won't be so simple… shall we take a vote? If you don't leave me a review, I will subject you to more math proofs as disclaimers! ;) Just kidding. **

**I have a request: Please go read and review the story: Indian Summer by Tami Flournoy... It is amazing and it needs more reviews in my opinion lol. It's a post Breaking Dawn Story with a really cool plot. As much as I'd love a review or two for my own story, I think she is far more deserving.**

**Now: officially ending longest A/N in the history of A/N lol... sorry!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N Hello everybody, and I know what you're thinking.... she's leaves us hanging for like 2 weeks and then posts 2 chapters in 2 days, what is wrong with her? And you'd be absolutely right. However, if you want to wait to read this, be my guest. **

**I'd like to give a shoutout to the annonymous reviewer: Twilight Lover for noticing the names of the builidngs at Sky High. Yes they are all named after super heroes. Robert Bruce Banner Hall... that's the Hulk, The Wayne Building, Parker Building, and Kent Hall: Bruce Wayne, Peter Parker, and Clark Kent (for those of you who are unaware those are the secret identities of Batman, Spiderman, and Superman). I was wondering if anybody would pick up on that lol.**

**Thanks for the reviews I've recieved, I got 50!!! Haha, just kidding I actually only got like 5, but hey a girl can dream right? I hope you like this chapter! :)**

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Chapter 5 - The Heat Ray

I carefully slid the lab stool out from under the desk and sat down making as little noise as possible. My mind was in a flurry. Some portion of my subconscious was wary of the ever present stares of my classmates, but I was mainly focused on the coppery-haired boy beside me.

While everybody in the class was turning and sending fleeting glances my way, Edward glared at the front of the room with an intensity that frankly scared me. Feeling self conscious, I shrugged my head down in such a way that my hair covered my face on my entire right side providing a curtain of protection from the fierceness of Edward's gaze.

I took out my notebook and pencil and finally turned my attention to the front of the classroom where Dr. Banner was motioning to a hologram of some sort of silvery weapon looking thing. The light of the hologram beamed up from his desk and I heard him say something about a heat ray. I immediately began taking notes as best I could. I had no experience whatsoever with this sort of science and I felt my heart beating frantically. What had I missed in class yesterday?

"So following the instructions on the overhead projector, you will construct the heat ray with the tools and equipment I have provided for you--one ray per lab table. You may leave as soon as you are finished, so I encourage you to get right to work so that you may have a free period when you finish," instructed Dr. Banner.

I glanced around the classroom and was relieved to see that I was not the only one who felt uncomfortable with this assignment. Everybody was fidgeting in their stools and whispering back and forth as if trying to figure out if Dr. Banner was being serious. I chanced a peak over at Edward, nervous about his reaction, and wary of whatever foul temper he was suffering from—he had yet to introduce himself to me, for all he knew, I had no idea who he was. I felt my face redden slightly thinking about what he would do if he knew I had been talking to Alice about him.

"As I mentioned before, a heat ray is not a ray of heat, but a ray of light that heats the area it illuminates. The entropy of the light itself, though highly energetic, is negligible. However, once the light falls upon a surface, the absorption of the energy exponentially increases the entropy, thereby burning the object. And that _will_ be on your test," lectured Dr. Banner as I struggled to write down everything he said.

He had a cart full of equipment in black plastic bins at the front of the classroom and he began passing them out as he made his way around the room. "Now be careful everybody, I don't want any mishaps today. Last year, I had a girl burn off her eyebrows. The rays you will be making today should be strong enough to burn through paper but too weak for metal. I will test each of yours when you are finished and before I dismiss you."

While Dr. Banner continued with his explanation, answering questions as he walked around the room, I tried to work up the courage to speak to Edward. It would be necessary for this project to be on a speaking basis with my partner, even if he wasn't happy about it. I wondered if he was like this with everybody or if I had done something to make him particularly unhappy with me. Maybe he really just didn't like having to share his lab desk.

When his angry glare refused to lessen, I decided that it was now or never. I had to speak with him, "So, you're Edward," I said timidly as I brushed the hair behind my shoulder and glanced up to meet his eyes. I tried to ignore the butterflies I felt when I said his name like that. I didn't even know him, and for some unknown reason, it looked like he hated me—feeling jittery about him was highly inappropriate.

His eyes narrowed as he looked at me, "How did you know my name?" he questioned sternly, but I couldn't help but notice the depth and melodious pitch of his voice.

"I, um, Alice," I stuttered as an explanation. When I was nervous, I tended to have about the same degree of articulation as the average four year old—it was embarrassing.

He rolled his eyes heavily and I was pretty certain I saw some steam seeping out of his nose and possibly his ears. I scooted away from him instinctively and his mouth formed a thin line of annoyance on his face as he stared down at the desk in front of him. I couldn't decide if it was the lack of speaking ability or the mention of Alice that had annoyed him so much.

After a moment, I conjured up the bravery to speak to him again, simply because I was feeling so nervous about our assignment to even attempt to start it without his input. I pulled the plastic bin closer to us and began searching for the titanium filament which would attach to a salted diamond in order to light the ray. "So have you ever built one of these before?" I began conversationally. I held up a small metal object and examined it closely before placing it on the desk. I made sure the bin was exactly halfway between us so that he would be able to access the contents just as readily as I could.

"Do you really think I would have any use for a heat ray?" he snapped condescendingly, his glare fixed on the space behind my head—as if he couldn't even stand to look at me after that question.

I immediately went on the defensive. The boy may have been beautiful, but if he was going to so arrogantly disregard me, I was going to at least give him a piece of my mind. "Well _excuse_ me," I made sure to emphasize my words with ice, "But I was _simply_ trying to ascertain your prior knowledge in regards to this potentially difficult assignment. How on earth am I to know what use you may or may not have for a heat ray when you didn't even bother to introduce yourself?" Well apparently my communication skills had returned to me, "And furthermore I wasn't here yesterday because I was in the sorting, so I don't know what I missed in class and your complete disregard for polite communication isn't helping anything," I finished in a huff.

His eyes grew comically wide as his gaze travelled from just over my shoulder to my face. He said nothing for a long moment, and I boldly held his gaze until I noticed that half of his mouth had turned up in a little amused smirk. I scowled at him. "Dr. Banner didn't hold class yesterday," he finally responded in a remarkably subdued tone, "So you didn't miss anything."

I continued to glare at the pieces of the heat ray gun laying disassembled on the desk now. I didn't want to admit to Edward the relief his last statement had brought. I was still unhappy with him.

"And I control fire, that's why I wouldn't have any use for a heat ray," he explained and I felt my curiosity pique. I shrugged my hair behind my shoulders once again and glanced up at him curiously.

"So you're like a super fire starter?" I questioned, once again at a loss for eloquence.

I noticed his mouth twitch again as if he wanted to smile, "I guess you could say that, since you mentioned Alice before, I kind of thought she had explained…" he trailed off and I felt my confusion grow. Was he really acting sheepish? Did he actually feel embarrassed for his remark before? He looked at me for a moment before speaking again. "You know, when you're angry you are remarkably _loquacious_," he said smugly. As if he didn't think I knew what loquacious meant.

I smiled at the challenge then glanced at my nails attempting to look aloof as I answered. "Well I may be a bit vociferous when the occasion calls for it. But most of the time, I prefer to remain on the taciturn side of life, don't you?" Oh he so did _not_ want to start a vocabulary war with me. I was pretty sure most members of the opposite sex had a sizeable ego, and I would just hate to damage his.

"Oh most certainly," he grinned widely and I completely lost track of all thoughts—dazed. I had thought he was beautiful before, but at the time I hadn't seen him smile. That level of beauty was on another plane, it really wasn't fair that one person could be so good looking. "Some people say that makes me seem supercilious, but I simply prefer to remain diffident and unobtrusive in the lives of the students here at Sky High." His grin had become defiant, daring me to come up with a better word.

"I see," I said shortly as realization dawned on me, illuminating the reasons for his earlier behavior. Just as Alice had said before, Edward didn't feel like he belonged here anymore than I felt I belonged in any normal public school. He probably felt he couldn't get along with anybody and he was just so annoyed with trying, that he positively abhorred the idea of having his space invaded by the new girl--the new girl who couldn't get everybody to stop staring her way.

He was silent for a moment as he contemplated what I had said, "You do?" he wondered softly, with a look of ardent curiosity encompassing his entire being.

"Well, sure, any self-effacing individual such as myself would be able to emphasize, Edward," I explained with a hint of smugness that I was able to continue the vocabulary battle. He smiled again and I felt like my heart skipped a beat.

"Self-effacing?" he wondered, "Now don't try to tell me you're shy Isabella," he admonished me.

"Bella," I corrected automatically, but I couldn't deny the lightness I felt when Edward said my full name. I had always found it too formal for everyday use, but the way he said it was like the silk lining on a fur coat. So slippery and filled with hidden elegance sewn underneath what everybody else can see.

"My point exactly," he grinned again. This time I had the presence of mind to redirect my line of sight so I could avoid the dazed feeling he somehow created in my mind when he smiled like that.

"So, I guess we should get started on the assignment," I reminded him. He looked as reluctant as I felt to begin the actual work. I couldn't decide if that was a relief or something to make me wary. If neither of us really knew what we were doing, how would we ever finish?

The instructions were complex because they were filled with explanations and definitions. Edward and I worked together pretty well as a team and we had the base constructed before several of our classmates--even though we had started late. I picked up the small metal cylinder which the overhead projector called a non-conductivity region and placed the filament inside then reached for the mini screw driver while Edward was busy with the trigger mechanism.

At the exact same moment I did though, Edward reached for the screw driver as well and the skin on his hand ended up brushing mine along the side of my thumb. I looked up, stunned. I was used to getting all sorts of reactions from my freakishly cold skin, and I was also used to everybody else's skin feeling quite warm, but not Edward's—Edward's was hot! It was so hot that it almost burned, and the heat from his skin rushed through my entire body like a shock and I sat erect as I stared at him questioningly.

His expression seemed to be a mirror of my own. There was surprise, and curiosity, and some trace of humor, "Your skin's as cold as ice," he murmured and then he chuckled and shook his head. "Cause you control ice," he whispered so quietly that I wondered if he had even intended to say that out loud. He was staring at his hand again as I finished staring at my own.

"Oh, great, even you know," I grumbled as I snagged the screw driver and began attaching the filament. This was getting quite ridiculous, everywhere I went at this school, people knew all about my gift before they even knew a thing about me. It was annoying and frustrating.

"Even I know what?" he questioned, clearly confused.

"About the ice, it's all everybody at this school seems to care about. I can't go to a single class without being stared at or questioned about my gift, or where I came from, or how I levitated," I ranted, glad to release at least some of my pent up hostility. The tiny screw I had been mercilessly winding into place went shooting out of its hold and landed on the other side of the table. I glared at it.

He chuckled again and if I hadn't been so enchanted by the sound, I probably would have been a little irked that he found my frustration so amusing. "So, that's a bad thing?" he wondered, "I mean, most people would enjoy all the attention," he mused, handing the screw back to me so I could try again.

I scoffed. "Oh sure, attention is great," I said sarcastically, "Didn't we just have a conversation about my self-effacing nature?"

He grinned as I passed the coveted screw driver back to him, "I'm not so convinced about that whole self-effacing thing, you up and yelled at me after knowing me for less than five minutes," he pointed out.

"Because you were rude!" I defended myself, "You know what, maybe a few more people need to yell at you once in a while!" I watched him finish assembling the trigger and I carefully slipped the parabolic mirror into place behind the filament and then handed my part to Edward so he could put everything together. We were nearly finished.

"Probably," he conceded.

After we had everything put together, I glanced around the class and noticed that somehow we had managed to finish first. "Well how'd that happen?" I wondered, glancing back to meet Edward's gaze. Once our eyes met though, I completely lost track of everything else that we had been talking about. His green eyes were vibrant and shining. As I stared at them, I detected little golden flecks floating around near the iris and they made his eyes even more appealing.

I blinked rapidly, trying to break the intensity of that stare and refocus on our assignment, "I guess we can go after Dr. Banner tests the gun, do you think it will work?"

"Oh it will definitely work," he said softly, and then an arrogant smirk lifted half of his face. It was really quite attractive. "In fact, I've got an idea for a minor adjustment I'd like to make, if that's alright with you?"

I shrugged, "What did you have in mind?"

"Just watch," he said lightly as he screwed off the parabolic mirror and reached his finger into the tight space of the photon chamber. As I marveled at his work, a streak of steam poured out of the device. I saw a tiny flame engulf the filament and the salt diamond as he slid them quickly back into the induction area. "Freeze the whole chamber," he instructed and I did just that. He deftly put everything back together and handed the heat ray gun to me for my examination.

Dr. Banner was making his rounds about the classroom, and there was a scowl plastered on his face. When he noticed that we were finished, he approached the desk and held out his hand wordlessly. I carefully placed the gun in his hand and he pointed it at a thick piece of cardboard with a target on it, stationed in the front of the room. The bright red beam of light shot across the room and ignited that easily, then shot through the overhead projection screen, and finally the wall which separated the classroom from Dr. Banner's office. It left a hole larger than the super genius' head.

Everybody in the class stopped what they were doing, and stared at the front of the room then back to Edward and I. "Showing off Mr. Cullen?" asked Dr. Banner with an extremely pleased expression on his face. "Didn't you think Isabella would like the opportunity to help construct the ray?"

"Bella," Edward corrected, "And she did just as much work as I did. Who do you think froze the photon accelerator?"

"Ah, yes of course, well done you two. You're free to go, enjoy the remainder of the period."

Edward and I packed up our bags and all but ran out of the classroom. "So what class do you have next?" He asked conversationally as we walked out into the courtyard.

"I've got General Hero Training in the gym and then Specialized Hero training back with Dr. Banner, how about you?" I was relieved that the easy conversation we had fallen into during class hadn't been lost once we were out. In all honesty, I thoroughly enjoyed talking to Edward. I mean, I loved talking with Alice Rosalie, and Emmett, but somehow, carrying on with Edward was just different. It was almost like we had some sort of understanding that nobody else was a part of.

It took me a minute to realize that the appropriate amount of time for a response had passed, and I glanced over to Edward to make sure he was still on this planet. He was staring at me intently, as if trying to figure something out.

"What?" I demanded, immediately feeling self conscious.

He shook his head, "Nothing," he claimed with a light smile which brought my attention to my heart once again beating harder than usual, "It's just, that's exactly what I have too," he laughed.

"Really?" I wondered, with excitement. Edward was a sophomore and I was just a freshman, I hadn't realized that I would have so many classes with older students. I was now looking forward to my final classes of the day much more than I had been before.

He nodded. "It's like there's no way I could have avoided you," he said cryptically, then he laughed and I delighted in the bright smile he wore--though it still affected my heart rate.

I took a moment to try and process what he had just said. "Do you want to avoid me?" I wondered. I knew he was teasing, but I couldn't help but ask.

His smile fell infinitesimally and I felt my chest tighten. Did he really want to avoid me? I know I had only known him for a grand total of 58 minutes, but I already felt so attached. It almost hurt to think of never talking to him again. Edward looked over at me from the corner of his eye. "No," he said simply, but it sounded like there was more he wasn't mentioning, something he was concealing.

"No, but?" I coaxed and he sighed.

"No, but I should," he admitted, and I stopped short.

He turned to face me, looking apologetic. "Why?"

He looked down at his feet as if contemplating, then his head whipped up to meet my curious eyes. "Bella, I'm dangerous," he said with a soft, resolute voice.

"What?" I deadpanned. I had heard him, but decided he couldn't possibly be serious.

"I'm dangerous," he repeated before explaining, "Fire, it's dangerous. It destroys things, it kills things--things that can't be fixed."

I looked up at the flag pole a few feet away from us, trying to gather my thoughts and overcome my state of disbelief. "Edward, just about everybody at this school is dangerous, that's why we go here," I argued, "The administrators and government may say that we're here to be trained as super heroes, and that _is _part of it. But we're mostly here to learn how to use our powers right and to take us out of public schools so we don't hurt any regular humans, don't you see?" Unfortunately, I couldn't stop my explanation, once I'd started, "I mean, super hero is just a glorified term for what we really are, and that's potential menaces to society, or even just weapons. Edward we're all dangerous!"

There was a hint of a smile on his face and I was comforted by the fact that he couldn't deny my logic. "I'm still more dangerous than everybody else at this school," he contended stubbornly, and I had to roll my eyes. He chuckled, "Don't roll your eyes at me, I'm serious. I have to constantly stay in control of this fire within me. It's volatile, _so_ volatile. If I lose control for even just a second I could destroy this entire school instantly."

"You cannot seriously tell me that in a school full of super heroes, somebody wouldn't be able to put out a fire," I stated sarcastically.

"But I could still hurt somebody," he continued then his voice dropped off to a mere whisper as he stared into my eyes as if searching for an answer, "I could hurt you," he sighed, "I couldn't live with myself if I hurt you." His face was crestfallen and once again he was staring at the ground.

I tentatively reached out and placed my fingers underneath his chin, lifting it slightly. The heat in his skin washed through every inch of me making me feel warm and alive. His eyes were wide when they met mine, "Edward, you couldn't hurt me," I said fervently, hoping he would believe me.

"But," he began. I cut him off by moving my finger from his chin to his mouth to keep him from speaking. I don't know what possessed me to do that, but it was a bad idea. His lips were so soft and hot, they reminded me of melting chocolate. I was completely distracted for a minute. It looked like he was too. It took me few seconds longer than I'd like to admit to regain my composure, but when I looked into his sad eyes I knew what I had to do. I had to show him. People always understood better with demonstrations.

"Ice is the opposite of fire," I said softly, I looked down at his feet for a moment before continuing. I focused my icing energy on the ground right below him, "And I think you should be more preoccupied with what I could do to you," I said as I looked from his feet to his face covering his whole body in a thicker layer of ice than I had used on Emmett, Mike, James, or even really the three of them put together. "Fire isn't the only thing that causes destruction," I whispered then left him there and walked to the gym. Class would start in a few minutes and I didn't want to be late for my first day of hero training.

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**A/N Hope you enjoyed! For the record, I know nothing about building a heat ray other than what I learned from H.G. Well's book: War of the Worlds. Let me know if you enjoyed the vocabulary war, I know I did lol...**

**P.S. Sooo what's your favorite super power so far? Anybody have one that I haven't named yet? Perhaps invisibility or a some sort of force field like the girl from Pixar's "The Incredibles"...**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N Hooo-ly crap guys! I've never gotten so many reviews on one chapter before! I was so unbelievably excited and thankful! And to show my appreciation, I decided to go ahead and get to work on this chapter. I hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: Twilight**** and Sky High obviously do not belong to me. If they did, then I would probably find better ways to occupy my time than posting on fanfiction.... but then again, maybe not ;)**

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Chapter 6 - EPOV - An Elemental Collection

She froze me! I couldn't believe it, she actually froze me! Bella Swan had to be the most infuriating, confusing, intriguing, and beautiful girl I had ever met and she turned me into a giant ice sculpture here on the front lawn of the school. Unbelievable.

It was a strange feeling, being frozen in a solid block of ice. I was confined so I couldn't move, extremely cold, but somehow still able to breathe. It was at that point I finally noticed that though the ice surrounded me completely, it wasn't actually touching my skin or clothes. There was a tiny area of space separating my body from the ice; I supposed she did that on purpose. That was thoughtful.

The air in the tiny chamber was so cold and thin that each breath felt pressurized and heavy. Unfortunately, the discomfort in my lungs was not the only side effect of the nearly frozen air; I also couldn't inhale enough oxygen to light a flame. I breathed out heavily and watched my steamy exhalation begin to melt away some of the ice closest to my face. It looked like I'd be stuck here for a little while until I got enough oxygen to melt this ice.

I contemplated how I had gotten myself into this mess. It was only the second day of school and already I was going to be marked tardy for my second class—including Mad Science Lab yesterday. At least today I hadn't accidentally destroyed school property in the cafeteria. Esme would be so proud.

I couldn't believe that nearly half my schedule aligned with a freshman, and of all the freshmen at this school, it had to be Bella. My plan to avoid her had been completely shot and in all honesty I was not nearly as upset about that as I should be.

When I first saw her in the cafeteria today she was talking to Kate Denali's younger sister, Tanya and two other girls whom I didn't really recognize. The company she kept spoke numbers about what kind of person I could expect Bella to be. I knew Alice had this lunch and I glanced over to see what she thought about the latest development in her new friend. She was talking animatedly with Jasper and his friends Carmen and Eleazar, the happy gleam in her eyes whenever Jasper was around was firmly in place. After deciding that she didn't look particularly bothered, I quickly returned to my normal lunch activity: avoid everybody and eat in peace.

I had to admit, at the time I had been a little disappointed in Bella for being exactly like I had feared she would be—talking to her hero friends and completely ignoring Alice simply because she was a side kick. Alice had said last night that they were fast becoming really good friends, but now it looked like Bella had other ideas. From now on she probably wouldn't be caught dead consorting with anybody less than one of the school's prized heroes. The more I thought about it, the angrier I became, I actually had to struggle to keep my body temperature from rising to avoid another cafeteria mishap. And it was more than a building resentment toward Bella for being just like everybody else at this school, I was also furious with myself for finding her so appealing when I didn't even know her, and then still finding myself unable to stop thinking about her after I had just caught a glimpse of her true nature.

But then we had Mad Science Lab together, and everything changed. I had cursed my luck that the only empty seat in the class would be next to mine. I mean sure when we had selected our seats I had purposely chosen the last row of lab desks and then everybody already knew better than to try and sit near me, but how was I to know that our class would have a latecomer—and not just any latecomer, a freshman named Bella (not Isabella) Swan? I didn't even think freshmen could take Mad Science Lab.

When I snapped at her because I assumed she was trying to engage me in some sort of mindless small talk, she surprised me. First she yelled at me and scolded me for my rudeness, and while she yelled at me she had used such sophisticated vocabulary that I was completely taken aback. People simply didn't speak like that in high school, particularly if they were so good looking and seeking popularity like Bella clearly was.

My mind was reeling as she scolded me, trying to take in everything that she said without getting too distracted by that adorably scrunched up, angry face she was wearing. And then she engaged me in some sort of word war as if she had something to prove. In all fairness I had started it, but she jumped on the challenge with the eagerness of a child at Disney World. I found myself smiling and laughing at the whole situation without giving myself permission to do so. I had gone a whole year at Sky High without saying as much to anybody as I did to Bella in that one period.

Somehow we managed to come to a sort of understanding about each other—and it wasn't just any understanding, it was the understanding of a kindred spirit. It was that moment when I realized I had definitely misjudged her, for she was absolutely nothing like all the rest of the dim-witted students which attended this school. In fact, while we worked to construct the heat ray, I realized she was actually pretty smart—I even went so far as decide that her way with words was definitely more than just a show. Bella did her part with the ray flawlessly and I grew even more impressed by her. As if it wasn't enough that she was beautiful and honest, and different, and sarcastic, she was brilliant on top of all that. Unbelievable. That's what she was, completely unbelievable.

I had let myself get caught up in her, and the mystery she represented. She was so much more than a pretty, albeit powerful, face. She was completely captivating. But as we walked across the courtyard after being released early from the lab, I finally remembered that none it mattered because there was more than one reason I had been trying to avoid her. Not only had I been so certain that she would just disappoint me if I got to know her, but it was almost guaranteed that if I ever got too close to her (the way my hormones demanded) I would probably end up hurting her. I couldn't stand the idea of harming her in any way, now more than ever since I had gotten to know her. She was too beautiful and too pure, but when I closed my eyes all I could see were images of her charred skin.

When I mentioned my worries and tried to convince her of the real danger I posed, Bella vehemently disagreed--and that was how I ended up locked in an Edward-shaped ice sculpture. Un-freaking-believable.

I glanced down and attempted to survey the area of ice closest to my mouth. There was very little room to move my head, but I was glad to see that a fairly good portion of the ice had already melted away on the areas which were met with direct contact from my fiery breath. Apparently having an extremely high body temperature came in handy for circumstances such as these.

I sucked in a large gulp of air and breathed out once more, feeling the heat course through my body and watching the steam melt away even more ice. I concentrated on pushing the fire's energy within me to all the exposed areas of my skin. I made quick work of the rest of the ice that had surrounded me; it took less than a minute for the ice to melt completely.

The courtyard was starting to fill with students as they headed to their classes. Some of them had the audacity to smirk at me and my recently evaded situation. I set their backpacks on fire then continued on my merry way. Really they should know better by now.

I ended up making it to the gym just as the bell rang. The stage and podium from the sorting was still in place but now the stage was turned to face one side of the gym where about 50 students from all four years (about a fourth of all the students in Hero class) were seated and jabbering away on the wide blue bleachers.

"_Siiii-lence_!" screamed Coach Boomer and the talking cut off instantly. "Running late, Cullen?" he called obnoxiously from his place on the podium.

I ignored him and the resulting giggles which broke out amongst the students as I took my seat on the lowest row closest to the doors. I had caught a glance of Bella, Rosalie, and Emmett up near the top of the bleachers. Bella shot me a smug grin which I easily returned before turning to face the front once again.

"For those of you who were with me yesterday for the sorting, welcome to Generalized Hero Training," said Boomer, a man who clearly enjoyed the sound of his own voice and long white tube socks more than the average—or normal person.

"The first step to being a hero is to accomplish strength of body and of mind. I don't care what your power is, if you're not strong enough to lift at the very least your own body weight, then how do you expect to be a hero?" he shouted and I scoffed. It was the same exact speech Boomer gave last year and once again I highly doubted Boomer would be able to lift his own body weight if his life depended on it.

"And when I say strength of mind, I'm talking about your ability to exert yourself even when your body feels like it's ready to give up. A hero has to overcome any number of obstacles to save the world, or to save their country, a city, or even just a single person!" And that was when I began tuning him out.

Yesterday during Hero Training, Principal Powers had put in a Superman movie and we watched it in the cafeteria, making sure to take careful notes of his use of super powers that were most like our own. Since my powers are pretty much the opposite of his (he saves things, I destroy them), I wrote a nice little paper about how Superman was a prick and his villain wasn't even a super genius but still managed to almost defeat him. I was expecting high marks.

Official Hero Training would begin tomorrow with weight lifting and on Friday we would have our very first "Save the Citizen" competition. Freshmen would be exempt from the first one, it was mostly a demonstration. The competitions for a grade wouldn't occur until later in the semester when we'd have one at the end of each quarter for a grade. I was kind of looking forward to those competitions this year. I mean, sure the idea was ridiculously immature, pitting supers against each other just to see which team could out-maneuver the other, but it was fun.

It took about 25 minutes for Boomer to finish his well-rehearsed lecture and then he released us for the remainder of the period to talk amongst ourselves until we went to our Specialized Hero Training classrooms. Almost all of the teachers at the school were in charge of leading a "Specializations" class, as they were typically called, and every student participated in a class filled with people who had gifts most like their own. Last year my class had been lead by a small woman named Mrs. Kensington. There were 11 other people in the class with me and we could all control things with our minds. My gift only barely fit in that category; most of the kids were telekinetic: able to move stuff or change stuff with their minds. There was one girl named Zafrina who could press images of places or things into your mind so that you would almost believe it was real.

I learned a few strategies for controlling my fire in that class but Dr. Banner had mentioned something about beginning a new class for students who controlled specific elements. The only other person I could think of with a similar gift to mine was Bella and her ability to control ice. Well there was also Victoria Villanova, the student body president—she had some sort of weather controlling power. I vaguely wondered who else would be in our class. I also wondered why Dr. Banner was leading the class, as far as I knew he couldn't control any elements.

"Well it looks like you escaped pretty quickly," sang the melodious voice I would forever more recognize as Bella Swan's.

I turned to her and smiled smugly, "Hello, fire?" I reminded her. Then, since she was so fond of demonstrations, I formed a tiny flame at the tip of my pointer finger. "Melts ice pretty well."

"I'd say," she said with a voice that betrayed her surprise, "That was three times as thick as the layer of ice I used to freeze Emmett and it took him almost an hour to melt it, and yet you melted yours in just a few minutes."

I was about to make a comment about how I was clearly hotter than Emmett, but decided against it, "Wait, you froze Emmett? When was that?" I wondered.

Her face reddened slightly and I watched in amusement, "Er, earlier today," she explained shortly before quickly diverting her eyes to the podium Coach Boomer had occupied for his lecture.

"Why?"

"He, well," she hesitated and I felt my curiosity grow, "Well he was trying to save me from this kid in my geometry class, Mike Newton. Except his idea of saving me was engaging Mike in some sort of fight, and well I didn't really have any choice, I just froze them right there in the hallway so they wouldn't kill each other." Her face had grown even redder and she still refused to meet my eyes. I couldn't help it, I just started laughing.

"You froze them both in the hallway?" I coughed out between chuckles. I could only laugh harder when I saw the furious expression on her face. "Were they in mid battle stance?" I continued, "Fists clenched?"

"It's not funny!" she insisted. I disagreed wholeheartedly. It was hilarious.

"Isn't Newton that kid who can transform into a giant rock-man or something like that?" I verified and she nodded curtly. Emmett and Rosalie had come to join us on the bottom row of bleachers now and when I greeted them with a polite "Hey guys," their faces transformed into masks of confusion, as if they'd never seen me laugh before. They probably hadn't.

"What's so funny?" asked Emmett after a few seconds.

"Nothing's funny!" Bella insisted, but I was happy to share.

"Just Bella freezing you and Newton in the hallway today," I explained cheerfully, "How does it feel getting beat up by a girl?" I laughed and Emmett joined, apparently he wasn't above laughing at himself.

"Never better, but you should have seen Newton. Imagine a human-shaped boulder covered completely in ice caught mid stride as he tried to walk across the hallway." I appreciated the imagery.

Bella crossed her arms with an audible "hmph".

"Don't go laughing too hard Edward," piped in Rosalie from the other side of Emmett, "I could ask you the same thing. How'd it feel being a giant ice cube yourself?"

"Haha, nice babe," congratulated Emmett as he gave Rose a high five.

I rolled my eyes but smiled when I saw that Rosalie's comment had at least made Bella happy. When she smiled like that her whole face lit up and my breath tended to come in shallower huffs.

"Well compared to Emmett, the layer of ice I used to cover Edward was at least three times as thick, but he managed to melt it in less than 8 minutes. It was kind of impressive," she admitted with a wink in my direction which made my chest feel funny.

"So who's your specializations director?" I asked Rose and Emmett to distract myself from the feeling. I marveled at the fact that I had just willingly engaged in small talk. What a day.

"I'm with Principal Powers," said Rosalie, "She's directing all flyers."

Emmett smiled fondly at his blonde girlfriend, "I'm with Coach Boomer. I guess he always takes the strength team. My dad says he's been doing it for ages, something about a craving for authority or something like that."

I nodded, that would make a lot of sense actually. "Think Newton's in your class?" I wondered.

Emmett's eyes got a gleam in them, as if he wouldn't have it any other way, "If we get to do any sort of combat practice, then he better be."

"Why do you feel the need to fight with him?" Bella demanded unhappily with a wave of her arm toward the third row behind us where Newton actually sat watching us.

"Because somebody so rudely interrupted us the first time around!" Emmett teased, giving Bella a challenging look. "Well that and he's a pest who's clearly trying to impress you and I enjoy humiliating him," Emmett explained cheerfully.

Bella just rolled her eyes and re-crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Speaking of humiliating Newton, I've been thinking of this joke all day. Bella, what is Mike Newton's favorite sort of music?" Emmett said loudly so Mike was sure to hear.

"Emmett, please," she said warningly, her eyes hinting toward Mike who was certainly within hearing distance and definitely listening.

"Wrong, it's Rock and Roll!" he exclaimed before breaking out into a fit of laughter. "What did Principal Powers call Newton since he never showed up for class?"

"Emmett, please stop being ridiculous," Rosalie said shortly and funnily enough her disproval shut him the heck up. He looked at her sheepishly and she grinned. "A skipping stone?" she asked and the answering smile on his face was huge.

"Oh, Rose, not you too!" Bella complained.

Before Rose got the opportunity to defend herself or apologize, the dismissal bell rang and we got up to head for our specializations.

Bella said goodbye to her friends outside the gymnasium and we began walking in the opposite direction, moving away from Emmet and Rosalie. I was pretty sure Emmett was actually supposed to hang out in the gym since Boomer was his director but it looked like he was walking Rose to class first. "What's gotten into Edward, I've never seen him like that?" I heard Rose say to Emmett before we were out of hearing range. I pretended I didn't hear her and lead Bella back to Dr. Banner's lab classroom without _much_ incidence. I supposed I was acting a little differently, but I couldn't really find it in me to care. I was too busy enjoying my time with Bella.

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BPOV

Somewhere along the line—in our time together since Mad Science Lab—Edward had transformed from an angry, arrogant jerk, to a funny and charming gentleman. I first became aware of that fact when he opened the door for me back at Dr. Banner's Lab for Specializations Training. Thinking back I realized that wasn't even his first chivalrous act within the past hour and a half. He had walked me to and from Generalized Hero Training, he had opened just about every other door in our path for me, and he had kindly set fire to the shoelaces of a group of students who were gawking at us on our way back to the lab. Yes, it was quite gallant.

Just outside the gym, I had heard Rose make a comment to Emmett on Edward's out of the ordinary behavior. I wondered idly what had brought this all on. Perhaps he was just tired of trying to ignore everybody all the time. Whatever the reason was, I was glad that I got to see this side of him. Actually, as I sneaked a peak over at him from the corner of my eye, I was pretty ecstatic about the fact that I could see any side of him. The man was downright gorgeous! I tried to imagine what his tangled hair would feel like, wrapped around my fingers. I bet it would be silky.

There were just three other people in the lab room when we got there. Edward had said there was 12 students in his class last year, so I figured there would be more people joining us soon. I recognized two of the three other students in the class from yesterday. The dark haired boy with braces had been bending metal yesterday morning when I first arrived at school and the red headed girl I recognized as Victoria. She was tall, statuesque, and very confident looking. She gave Edward and I a broad smile when we entered the class, but the significant look she had in her eyes made me think she knew something I didn't. If it had anything to do with the workings of this school, she probably knew quite a lot that I didn't.

Dr. Banner walked into class just as the bell rang and gave each of us a very pleased smile. "Welcome, welcome friends. I'm so glad we could all come together for this meeting," his high pitched voice was filled with satisfied glee, as if it had been his life's goal to bring us together in a class—and not just any class, his class.

"You each are in one of my science lab classes, but it's nice that we can join together to work on your powers and study them on a more personal basis, I think. Before we begin today, are there any questions?" Dr. Banner asked.

The one boy in the class I didn't recognize raised his hand right away. "Yes, Benjamin, what is it?" chirped Dr. Banner.

"Well, I was just wondering, er," he brushed a hand through his short dirty blonde hair, looking uncomfortable, "I thought you didn't really have a super power, how are you supposed to train us to control our elements?" His eyes were wide and innocent as he finished his question. Clearly he hadn't meant any offense.

Fortunately Dr. Banner seemed to agree with my assessment. He gave a light reedy laugh before answering, "Good question, and the best response I can give is that, as a super genius, I happen to be the most knowledgeable member of the staff here at Sky High. There aren't any other teachers that can control elements, so there was previously no specialized training for it and you guys were all separated as best as we could manage. I of course volunteered to take on the role of learning about and mastering the use of your particular types powers and I hope to further that knowledge as we move through the year.

"Now as you all know, the control of elements is a trait that is typically passed down from generation to generation. Unfortunately when your parents were here for school, I was not able to begin a class for them at that time. Now I am happy to remedy the situation so that each and every one of you has as great a chance to master your powers as possible." I was surprised to learn that the control of elements was a hereditary trait. My mother's ability was to control electricity though, not ice. I wondered what he would make of that information, but I didn't have an opportunity to question him about it as he continued on with his little speech.

"Since we're such a small and cozy class, I would like to take the opportunity now to introduce ourselves to one another. I would like you each to say your name and your power and something interesting you have done with your power in the past. Isabella, why don't you go first," he suggested with a meaningful look in my direction.

I stood up and felt a warm blush flood my face. I hated speaking in front of a crowd—even if it was just 5 other people. "Um, right, uh hi my name is Bella," I said nervously.

"Louder, please Isabella," Dr. Banner encouraged, and I grimaced.

"Bella," I corrected forcefully, and he grinned. So did Edward.

"Anyway, I control ice and I guess the best thing I've done with my powers was transform my backyard into a miniature ice skating rink," I said quickly, then retook my seat.

Everybody else introduced themselves in a much smoother fashion. Benjamin, it turned out, was able to control rocks and earth, Victoria could change the weather, and like I already knew, the third kid, named Aaron, could morph and control metal.

"Now you are the only element workers at this school, and as such your powers are very unique and effective. Since I would like the tone of these training sessions to remain fairly informal, I would ask that you all refer to me by my first name, at least during this class," Dr. Banner began to say, but I raised my hand before he could finish. He wasn't quite right about that.

"Yes Isabella, what is it?" I frowned because he still insisted on calling me Isabella.

"It's just, we're not the only element workers at this school," I said hesitantly and Dr. Banner's eyes narrowed in doubtful curiosity.

"Oh?"

"Um, Alice Cullen, Edward's sister. She controls plants with her mind. I think it's about the same concept as the rest of our gifts," I tried to explain.

"Edward is this true?" Dr. Banner asked with a new air of excitement. Edward just nodded and looked at me curiously. I just shrugged.

"Well I will have to make sure she is transferred into this class right away. And what a wonderful addition she will make to this fine collection," he marveled.

Victoria cleared her throat from the other side of Benjamin. "Alice Cullen isn't even in hero class, she's just a side kick," she said snidely as she flipped her long red hair over her shoulder. I frowned, did that mean she couldn't be in the class?

Dr. Banner's eyes grew wide now, "That Boomer is getting worse and worse at classifying people these days," he scoffed, "No matter, I'll have to see what I can do to get her in here," he said happily and I felt my worries fade. Alice and I would finally have a class together. I let my excitement show on my face as I grinned at Edward and he simply shook his head with an amused grin on his face as well.

"Now as I was saying before Bella corrected my very false statement," Dr. Banner continued, "I would like this class to have a more intimate feel so that we are comfortable to learn about our gifts as a team. As such, I would prefer that you all call me by my first name. And I know that may seem like a silly request, but we're not just student and teacher in this particular class. We are friends, and will remain as such long after you have graduated and joined the world of super heroes. So, I will give my own introduction now, I'm a super genius and I can't really say what my most interesting feat is that I've accomplished using my gift and as you may or may not know, my first name is Aro."

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**A/N Oh, ho ho! What do we have here? Dr. Aro Banner? (Yeah I know it sounds weird, get over it). To show my appreciation for my reviewers this time around, if you review this chapter, I'll send you a little clip of Emmett's POV when he got in the fight with Mike. **

**If you're an anonymous reviewer and still want the Emmett POV, you can write your e-mail address in the review and I'll e-mail it to you, but that's totally your choice. Hint: When writing the e-mail address, make sure to avoid using period's because they won't show up for some reason. For example, write: "Hey Lauren, I loved the chapter, oooh Dr. Banner is Aro? I never would have guessed. I soooo want an Emmett POV, so please send it to Ilovetwilight yahoo (dot) net" And I will happily do so! :)**

**P.S. If you don't want an Emmet POV please feel free to review anyway and specify your preferences. Thanks! :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N How can I say this? I am so, SO sorry for not updating this sooner! Thanks so much for sticking with me, I appreciate it more than you know… which is why I stayed up until 3:00 in the morning tonight to get you guys another chapter! (I apologize for grammatical mistakes… it's late, and I wanted to get this finished for you guys). ;)**

**Disclaimer: Twilight and Sky High aren't mine, I didn't write them, but I borrowed a whole bunch of crap from them for this story. No harm intended.**

**Thank you: we reached over 100 reviews! I'm so excited! =) **

**Chapter 7 – BPOV - Indifference**

Class with Dr. Banner—Aro, as he now preferred we call him—was surprisingly intriguing. After completing our introductions, Aro handed out small black spiral bound notebooks to everybody in the class. In elegant gold engraving, the front cover of each notebook read a quote: "Power of mind is infinite while brawn is limited"—Koichi Tohel. It seemed like something a super genius would say, but as I imagined Emmett throwing a semi-truck across the gymnasium during sorting, I couldn't help but think that Aro might be a bit biased.

According to Aro, our notebooks were to be our "accident logs". As a task for the class, we would record in the notebooks each and every time our gift for controlling the elements seemed to operate without our conscious permission. Aro claimed accidents were a very frequent occurrence for those attempting to control the earth's unruly elements and one of the key measurements of success with your gift is a marked decrease in these accidents.

I noticed that as he spoke of accidents, Aro's eyes fell on mine for a beat longer than necessary. Once again, his gaze made me feel like I was missing something. Just like with Victoria's expression when Edward and I first entered class, I felt like Aro knew something which I didn't. Of course I realized that as a super genius he knew quite a lot which I didn't, but there was just something about the twinkle in his eyes that made me feel uneasy.

"As for the charming bit of Tohel I've quoted on the front of your notebooks for you, I would like to emphasize its meaning as it will be applied in this classroom," Aro had said once he completed his explanation on accidents. "You see, it is my belief that mental clarity and strength of mind open the gateway to control. Your control must be so great that not only must you be able to wield your element over an entire city, but you must be able to use your gift to alter the tiniest speck of dirt without affecting anything else around it."

For not having the ability to control elements himself, Aro certainly knew quite a lot about our powers and how they worked. I wondered where and how he could have learned so much. Aro had said that in his class, we would be working not only on strengthening our influence over the elements, but also our finesse and our attention to tiny details when employing our powers. I hadn't even thought about the necessity of such skills, but I was looking forward to learning and practicing them.

The half an hour class we had with Aro seemed to fly by and before long, Edward and I were walking along the corridor outside the lab on our way out to the buses.

By the flagpoles just outside the building I saw Alice and Rose approaching from the opposite direction. I smiled brightly when I caught Alice's eye and her entire face lit up with delighted surprise as her eyes moved from me to Edward. Curious about her seemingly endless supply of exuberance, I glanced over to Edward to see what he had made of her reaction.

His lips had formed a tight line on his face and his cheeks were burning red with some unidentifiable emotion. As soon as I opened my mouth to question him, his face cleared completely and he turned and walked swiftly back towards Robert Bruce Banner Hall without another word.

I felt my mouth fall open and my eyes glaze over as I stared after the retreating form of the ridiculously attractive boy. Despite my shock at his sudden departure, I couldn't help but admire the warm glint of sunlight which reflected off his decidedly unruly hair.

When I eventually turned back to Alice and Rose, who were now standing next to me, they each had slightly more resigned and complacent expressions on their faces. "That boy," I heard Alice mutter darkly. Rose chuckled and I allowed my questioning gaze to fall to them for explanation.

"Oh don't worry about him," Rose said, and it sounded like an order. "I'm pretty sure he just doesn't want Alice to know about his little _infatuation_," she said haughtily as we began walking again towards the bus.

"Infatuation?" I asked, feeling far more confused than I had before.

Alice seemed to ignore me when she answered, looking at Rose, "Yeah, that and he doesn't know how to share," she sighed, shaking her head as we walked.

I decided to let the subject drop rather than press it further. Maybe I didn't really want to know if he had some sort of infatuation with a girl here a Sky High. In fact, I was pretty sure that I was starting to feel a bit infatuated with him myself, so I'd rather avoid any mention of the competition. Edward definitely had a certain allure to him, and it was completely separate from his devastatingly good looks. He was different, and different in a good way, but he was also funny, smart, and even kind of charming when he wanted to be.

I tried to dispel the completely unreasonably satisfied thoughts from my head before they could take root. All of those thoughts along with the fluttering I felt in my lower stomach whenever I was around him were completely ridiculous. I had only seen the boy for the first time in my life yesterday and I had only actually known him for a matter of hours.

As Alice and I followed a line of freshmen onto the bus, a thought finally occurred to me. "Alice, how do the older students and teachers get to and from school?" I wondered aloud as we took our usual seat in the back of the bus behind Emmett.

"Ice queen, there you are!" Emmett exclaimed, before Alice could respond, "What took you so long, I haven't seen you in ages!"

I tried to gauge his level of sarcasm before responding, "Emmett I just saw you less than an hour ago," I said slowly, hoping I wasn't walking into some sort of joke at my expense.

When he turned to look at us after Ron Wilson secured the safety harnesses, Emmett's eyes were bright and innocent. "I know, I know, but an hour is more than enough time for you to freeze somebody or do something else that's cool and I would really rather not miss anything else!" he explained in a boisterous voice that made me smile. "Maybe you could freeze Ron Wilson the bus driver!" he enthused.

I frowned and so did Alice, "Emmett, she's not going to freeze Ron Wilson. Bella only uses her gift to freeze deserving people which pose a threat to her security or the general well-being of students at this school," she defended adamantly and I felt my frown grow slightly as I tried to recount all the people I had frozen today—either partially or completely. Including Tanya and her friends, I was up to six and the day was only half over.

"Er, Alice?" I said timidly, but I was interrupted once again by Emmett's hysterical laughter.

His head tilted back and his mouth opened wide as loud guffaws escaped his mouth and assaulted the innocent ears of the students around us.

After meeting several confused glances from students around us, Alice finally decided to intervene. "Emmett," she called sternly, "Emmett!" she repeated when he refused to stop laughing. "What the—?" she tried to demand, but Emmett didn't seem to have a firm grasp of the finer undertakings in polite conversation because once again he interrupted.

"General well-being of students at the school?" he chuckled, "Then why'd she freeze yours truly, right along with Mike Rocks-for-Brains Newton, and even your very own brother Edward?" he teased, completely calling me out on my various enterprises of the day. I scowled at him and turned to meet Alice's gaze with a sheepish look, preparing myself to absorb whatever admonitions she'd have for me.

To my surprise, she actually started laughing as well, and that got Emmett back to laughing, and finally I had to start laughing with them. I was well aware of the fact that it was completely ridiculous that I had frozen almost half of my acquaintances at the school in one day.

When we were finally able to stop laughing at the completely silly situation, Alice grinned and declared, "I stand by what I said, Bella only freezes people for the general well-being of the school, that definitely includes you Emmett, Mike Rocks-for-Brains Newton I'm sure, and after what I saw of my dear brother today, I'm fairly certain that includes Edward as well."

~*~

At 6:30, when Charlie finally got home from work, we went to a local pizza place for dinner. It was a small place that made some of the best thin crust I'd tasted, but the grease made me a little nervous when I saw Charlie practically inhaling the stuff. After dinner, Charlie dropped me off at the Food Mart while he browsed around a fishing supply store across the street. We were both more efficient on our own, and as such we were avid followers of the "divide and conquer" philosophy as a way of life. Truthfully, I had no interest in walking around a fishing supply store for forty five minutes while Charlie shopped and I was pretty certain he felt the same way about the grocery store.

I picked up all the typical essentials on my list but spent an extended period of time in the produce section, endeavoring to find something healthy which Charlie wouldn't mind eating, especially after that pizza tonight. After staring at a stand filled with packages of various berries for an unfathomable amount of time, a kind looking woman with wavy caramel colored hair approached me. She looked to be a bit younger than Charlie, maybe about as old as Principal Powers.

"You look lost honey," she said with a warm smile that assured me she was not trying to insult my intelligence by insinuating that I was truly lost in the barely average sized grocery store.

I smiled back easily, glad that she had broken the trance which the tiny fruits had placed on me. "How do you make a stubborn man who needs to cut down on his cholesterol and overall calorie intake eat something healthy?" I asked without any expectation that she would have a reasonable answer. Much to my surprise however, she did.

"When my children were growing up, I used to make them fruit parfaits as a snack. They're simple to make and if you dress them up nicely enough they don't even notice that they're eating wholesome food."

My smile grew as I thought about all the possible fruit combinations I could sneak into Charlie's diet. "So it really worked?"

"It surprised me too," she chuckled, "When my son was just five years old, fruit parfaits used to be the only healthy food I could convince him to eat."

"So what all did you put in it?" I asked eagerly.

"Berries are always a big hit, but you can mix in some larger fruit occasionally as well. Then just layer the fruits with low fat yogurt, and sometimes I even add granola," she finished amiably. Never had I been so glad to meet somebody at a grocery store before.

~*~

Long before the crack of dawn, my alarm clock once again roused me from my heavy sleep. When I rolled out of bed though, I slipped on a large patch of ice which had formed on my floor at some point during the night. I groaned as I stood up and rubbed my sore hip which had suffered the greatest impact from the fall. I couldn't remember what my dream had been about, but it looked like it had been interesting and it also looked like I already had something to add to my Accident Log for Aro's class.

I pulled on my sweatshirt and a warm pair of socks then padded out of my room and downstairs. Charlie was already downstairs with a cup of coffee in hand, reading the newspaper, "Morning Bells," he greeted me without looking up from his paper.

I opened the refrigerator to pull out the fruit, yogurt, and granola parfaits I had made last night. "Morning Dad," I responded with a heavy dose of pleasantry in my voice. The optimistic side of me encouraged that my tone would have some significant influence in how the fruit parfaits would be received.

Unfortunately though, the sickly sweet tenor in my voice only managed to raise suspicion. Charlie slowly lowered the newspaper and peered at me over the top of what I had to assume was the sports section. "What's up Bells?" he questioned with a measured lightness in his voice. "Something on your mind?"

"Nope, I'm just excited for the parfaits I made last night. I really hope you like them, a woman at the grocery store gave me the recipe last night and I made them especially for you," I tried my best to imitate the voice I was accustomed to hearing Alice use as I resorted to the only tactic I had left for convincing Charlie to consume something he wouldn't like—guilt.

He was well accustomed to this tactic so immediately his eyebrows shot up and a fleetingly look of panic crossed his face before he had the opportunity to disguise it. He said nothing as I quickly set the table and did my best to make the fruit parfaits look appetizing before presenting them to him. I even went so far as to coat the sides of the glasses in a thin sheet of ice to give them a nice crisp, cool feeling, even from the outside.

"So I hope you're in the mood for something sweet today," I said cheerfully, pushing the layered parfait towards him.

He hastily stashed the paper with an almost hopeful glint in his eyes that immediately disappeared when he saw the sliced apples and raspberries sitting on top of his breakfast. "Erm, thanks Bells," he said uncertainly, "Is this a fruit salad?"

I rolled my eyes and tried not to grin. "No dad, it's a fruit parfait," I reminded him patiently, "There's apples, strawberries, raspberries, vanilla yogurt, and high fiber granola in it. The lady I met at the grocery store yesterday said it was delicious." I didn't mention the fact that it was over discussion of the only healthy food the woman could coerce her picky five year old to eat. He didn't need to know that I compared his stubborn eating habits to that of small children.

"Right, er, it looks delicious," he said with a barely concealed grimace. I took a large bite and smiled in an attempt to make the action look inviting so that he would follow suit.

He eyed me, and then the parfait speculatively for a moment before dipping his spoon in and swirling it around, mixing all the artfully placed layers of fruit, yogurt, and granola into one colorful blob. I raised one of my eyebrows and give him a challenging smirk.

He mumbled something about girly food and needing more grease and protein in his diet, and then lifted the spoon very tentatively to his mouth. Any outside observer would likely assume he suspected me of trying to poison him. When he closed his mouth around the spoon, his eyes grew wide and I saw the ghost of a smile turn up the side of his face. He quickly tried to disguise the reaction by looking down and swirling his spoon in the parfait once again. But I saw it and smirked.

"Is something the matter dad?" I asked with false innocence.

He shrugged and took a distinctly larger bite of his parfait.

"Did you want me to make you something manlier?" I teased, "Something with more grease in it?" I said, reaching for his glass with the rest of his parfait.

He reflexively whipped his breakfast away from my grasp and I chuckled. "No this is fine Bells, you went through all the trouble of making it and it's already here so I might as well just eat the fruity salad," he tried to make his voice sound dismissive but that only made me laugh harder. I would have to trade meal tips with the caramel haired woman at the grocery store more often. I wondered if she always went to that particular Food Mart.

~*~

My second official day of classes started out almost exactly like my first. I rode the bus with Alice and Emmett (I decided not to mention the possibility of a change in Alice's specializations class, just in case Aro couldn't get her in our class), I sat through Heroes of Lit and passed notes with Rose, I walked with Mike to History after Flight Angles, and then during History, Emmett decided on yet another nickname for Mike.

"I think you should call him your pet rock," Emmett suggested in a whisper that was louder than the average person's speaking voice.

"Pet rock?" I marveled. I had been thinking more along the lines of a golden retriever than a pet rock. In a matter of days Mike had adopted several chief features of the loyal pet. He picked up my pencils when I dropped them during class, he tried to take my back pack and carry it for me, and then he walked me to History despite my request, he even growled a little at Emmett when we saw him waiting just outisde our class. I really hoped to avoid a repeat of yesterday's hallway incident so I tried to coax Mike into leaving before he got too close. Emmett and Mike had both been unnecessarily friendly to me thus far and I really didn't want to have to freeze them again. After Alice's praise yesterday, I decided I really needed to lessen my everyday use of my gift against other students. People would start to think I was a sadist if I continued in the same fashion.

"Ah you're right Bella," Emmett sighed with a completely fake frown, "Mike is much too annoying to be considered a pet rock. I'll have to keep thinking and come up with yet another endearing nickname for him. I hope he appreciates how much work I put into his naming process."

"I'm pretty certain that he hates you," I informed him, "What exactly did you do to him yesterday anyway? I saw him come to Hero Training late and that glare he fixed on you looked like he was trying to cause you physical pain."

"I'd like to see him try to cause me physical pain," Emmett quipped with eagerness that made the volume of his voice rise enough to alert the teacher to our lack of attention.

"Mr. McCarty, do you mind?" Mr. Valencia asked impatiently.

Emmett grinned and shook his head as if the question had not been rhetorical. "Nope, please continue," he said mockingly, earning a few snickers from some of the other students in the class.

Mr. Valencia rolled his eyes and continued the lecture. I shook my head and tried to hide my slight smile. I didn't need to encourage his behavior, Emmett seemed to get away with a lot of his obnoxious tendencies at this school as it was. I wondered if that was a result of his lineage and the fact that his great grandfather had helped start the school.

At lunch I was glad to see that a good amount of the staring and barely concealed whispering in my presence had decreased at least marginally. I picked up a slice of pizza and a bottle of lemonade, then joined Alice and Jasper at their table. I was pretty certain Tanya wouldn't have anything to say to me today after what happened yesterday. She hadn't said a word to Rose or I during Heroes of Lit, but I wasn't entirely sure if that was due to Rose's warning or my actions.

I noticed that Edward wasn't seated at his usual table at the beginning of lunch so every few minutes I surreptitiously scanned the cafeteria in an attempt to locate his new seat.

"Looking for somebody?" Alice finally asked after my fourth or fifth glance around his table.

I felt my cheeks color and I dipped my eyes away from her face. "I, er—," I struggled to find coherent words, "No, no, not looking for anybody," I lied. Carmen and Eleazar had joined us by that point and the four of them (Alice, Jasper, Carmen, and Eleazar) smirked at me and my obvious denial.

"You sure?" Alice challenged and I scowled at her. She laughed lightly and changed the subject. I couldn't bring myself to send her a thankful glance yet. She suspected something was up, that much was clear, but I just wasn't entirely certain what.

When Angela and Ben sat down and joined the conversation, Alice took the opportunity to engage me without an audience. "I don't think he's coming to lunch at all today," she said softly, looking into my eyes to gauge my reaction.

I felt my eyebrows lift in confusion and I simply stared at her waiting for her to continue. "Oh come on Bella, I know you're looking for my brother. I may not have x-ray vision but I'm certainly not blind. You like him don't you?" she asked seriously and I cringed.

"Am I that obvious?" I sighed in defeat. Why bother denying it anymore, she clearly knew.

She smiled victoriously and quickly shook her head, "Only for somebody who's looking, and I assure you I was looking," she teased.

"So why isn't he coming to lunch?" I prodded, taking advantage of the stock of knowledge she probably had on her beautiful brother.

Alice dramatically rolled her eyes. "He's being ridiculous," she said as if that would answer my question without any further clarification. When I continued to stare at her questioningly, she gave me a conspiratorial smile then leaned her head across the table, even closer to mine. "Edward is very hard-headed when he thinks he is right about something," she explained, "Just give him some time, he'll come around." After chewing on her lip for a moment, she continued, "Try not to take anything he does or says to you too personally for the next day or so. I still think you should ask him to the Homecoming Dance, just give him a few days before you ask him and I promise he won't be able to say no."

I stared at Alice in shock for a long moment as I tried to wrap my head around exactly what she had just told me. She winked at me then stood up and grabbed her tray. I quickly did the same and followed her out of the lunch room, walking in the correct direction this time toward the Parker Building and Mad Science Lab 1.

The idea of Edward taking me to the Homecoming Dance was something I could hardly contemplate as it was, but what did Alice mean when she told me to disregard his actions for the next few days? Alice knew something that I didn't, and that feeling was starting to feel permanent for me. It seemed like everybody always had access to some top secret information which I was just not privy to. But this time it was something about Edward. What did she know?

"Good afternoon Isabella," Aro greeted me with a wink as I walked into the lab.

"Good afternoon Dr. Banner," I retorted simply.

"I believe I said you could refer to me as Aro from now on since you're in my specializations class," he admonished with an indulgent smile lighting his oddly shaped features.

"And I believe I said you could call me Bella," I smirked as I made my way to my seat. Edward was already situated on his lab stool and he was staring down at the black top table in front of him. I saw the side of his mouth lift into a small grin, but it quickly disappeared when I pulled my lab stool out from underneath the desk and took my seat.

"Touché Bella, touché," Aro muttered from the front of the class as he straightened some papers.

The silence between Edward and I stretched for a few awkward moments before I finally decided to break it. "I didn't see you at lunch," I stated in a light tone, trying to engage him in some conversation before the start of class.

He remained silent for a second longer than normal for an ordinary conversation before he finally answered, "I wasn't there," he said simply and didn't attempt to offer anything more.

I felt my heart sink and my cheeks flush red. I stared at him, willing him to speak to me but Edward fixated his gaze on the front of the classroom and all but ignored me completely. When class started, he took notes on Aro's lecture but didn't speak or even so much as glance in my direction. Had this been the behavior Alice had warned me about? Edward had decided that he was going to ignore me? But why? And how could I possibly think that he would ever want to accompany me to the stupid Homecoming Dance when he won't even look at me?

Try as I might I couldn't figure out what I had done to provoke this behavior. Had I said something? Had I not said something? I scanned my brain and ran through my time with Edward yesterday, attempting to remember ever little motion or word and analyze it for my mistake. I came up blank. Maybe he just realized that I liked him and decided that ignoring me was the best way to show that the feelings were not mutual. Maybe Alice had told him about how I felt. As soon as that thought entered my brain I promptly dismissed it. Alice was my friend, she wouldn't tell him, especially if she thought he would react this way. A small pessimistic part of me chanted, "What if she didn't know he would react this strongly and told him anyway?" I shied away from that idea. That was a mere worst case scenario.

The period passed slowly and I felt myself growing tenser and tenser as I attempted to take notes. The walk to and from Hero Training would be awkward if he was going to continue in his pattern of not speaking to me. Another part of my mind theorized that perhaps I had simply imagined him ignoring me before. After all, he had answered my question about lunch—vaguely, maybe he was just really interested in what Aro had going on in the front of the class. I decided I would try questioning him again after class to see if I could elicit some sort of response.

But as soon as the bell rang for class to finish, Edward was out of his seat and dashing for the door before I could even open my mouth. So maybe the walk to Hero Training wouldn't be so awkward after all if we didn't even see each other.

In Hero Training, Coach Boomer started our weight lifting section of the course by dividing the class into groups by weight and estimated strength. Needless to say I was nowhere near Edward's group, and certainly not near Emmett's, but Rosalie was in the group just above mine, so we were able to talk a little in between sets. I had never really been a fan of gym, but weightlifting didn't seem to be that bad. I almost enjoyed it.

Once again I didn't see Edward at all on the walk between the gymnasium and the Parker Building on my way to Aro's lab. My chest was starting to feel heavy with nausea as I contemplated Edward's sudden change in demeanor. The only distraction I had from the strange feeling was Alice's happy arrival (a few minutes late) to our Specializations class.

She knocked on the door and I strained my ears to hear the conversation between Alice and Aro when she arrived. "Um hi, my name is Alice Cullen and I was told to come here for Specializations now?" she said as a question, "Are you Dr. Banner?"

"Why of course Alice, I'm so happy you could join us, please call me Aro. As I explained to the rest of the class yesterday, we're all friends in this classroom, so let us act like it," Aro enthused in his reedy voice.

When Alice shrugged inside the classroom though, her head shot up and so did her voice, "Edward? Bella?" she called, "What are you guys doing here? Edward how come you didn't tell me Bella was in your Specializations class?" she demanded as she stormed over to me and took the vacant seat at my lab desk which Edward had occupied yesterday. Today he was on the opposite side of the room with his belongings blocking anybody from joining him at his desk. I tried to ignore the sting of that reminder. I still didn't have any idea why he had decided to start ignoring me.

Fortunately, Alice was able to keep my mind occupied throughout the short period and it wandered over to Edward only minimally throughout the half an hour. Aro had given a brief, but surprisingly accurate lecture on the physical feelings associated with using one's elemental gifts. Alice actively took notes while she manipulated a small plant on Aro's desk throughout his lecture. If he noticed, Aro certainly didn't mind and she continued her activity unhindered the whole period.

Edward once again dashed out of the room the moment class was over and Alice rolled her eyes as she looped her arm in mine and essentially dragged me out toward the bus lane. How could she be so nonchalant about Edward's sudden hatred for me? Was this typical behavior for him? I thought about it and realized that ,yes, this most certainly was typical behavior for him. I had heard that Edward practically made it his business in life to ignore every other person at this school to the best of his ability. So maybe he didn't hate me, maybe he just felt indifferent toward me, as if I were exactly the same to him as everybody else. I couldn't decide which was worse, hatred or indifference, because the constant heavy feeling which permeated my stomach in his presence alerted me to the fact that I most certainly was not indifferent toward Edward. And I really didn't want him to feel indifferent toward me.

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**A/N Hi guys, thanks so much for reading. Sorry if it was disappointing!****PLEASE READ! I have a little request! So it'd be great if you reviewed my story and all, but there's another story I'd much rather have you all review! It's so, incredibly good and it deserves 10 thousand reviews but only has about 16. It's called "Genesis" by the author "Mist in the Valley"**

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**Here's the summary: How did Vampires come to be? Is there really a creature older then the Volturi, and even more dangerous? Will Bella's connection to this creature tear her from Edward forever? Come, enter the world where vampires are the least of our nightmares...**

**Please read and review her story! Maybe even ask her to update like you guys were so good about asking me! I'll be checking it occasionally and I'll send a little Edward POV of this chapter to those who review her story... I know, this is probably really unorthodox, but her writing is at least 10 times better than mine and it just amazes me that she has so few reviews. I appreciate your help in righting this situation. Lots of love! See you soon (I promise I won't let another 3 weeks go by again!)**

**:) Lauren**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N So, I suppose an apology is in order. Ugh, I'm so sorry for leaving you all hanging! Honestly, I had no idea you all had so much interest vested in this story! After like the 20****th**** message, asking where I went and why I hadn't updated, I realized that I'd be letting you guys down if I didn't get to updating, and SOON! So thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed and messaged me!**

**Some special thanks: Cheesepuff311 because she's really nice and I like talking to her, MissSweatPeaTenaj91 because she reviewed very nicely and I didn't get a chance to tell her thank you… also, if you're still reading, your name isn't Janet is it? I saw you have the name Tenaj in your penname, and that just makes me think Janet lol, and finally Mrs. Cullen-Masen1901 because she reminded me what being a writer is all about… just telling your story, no matter who's listening. **

**So if you'd really like to thank somebody for this update, I recommend one of the aforementioned ladies, because there's a good chance I wouldn't have updated without their support.**

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It's Been Too Long - BPOV

Two weeks. It had been two weeks since Edward last offered me the pleasure of his conversation. Two weeks since he last spoke those two lowly words to me in Mad Science Lab regarding his lunch whereabouts, and two weeks since he first rushed out of the classroom without waiting to walk me to General Hero Training. But somehow I couldn't stop thinking about him.

The pain of an unrequited crush always seems so insurmountable at the time of the initial denial, but supposedly, the humiliation and heartache wanes and eventually fades over time. As I walked alone to General Hero Training, I considered the possibility that perhaps I just wasn't giving it enough time. If Edward could get over his friendship with me so quickly and completely, then I should be able to recover from my small bout of infatuation any day now.

But I just couldn't. The question wasn't whether I wanted to get over him; it was whether I had the physical ability to just stop liking him. And as the days crawled by, I was beginning to doubt my ability. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of smoking grass a few feet in front of me and my heart rate picked up—just a bit. I cursed myself and my stupid heart. It was just a blade of grass that happened to be on fire. It didn't mean that Edward had set it on fire—although I was at a loss to determine how else it could have caught on fire.

I stopped above the diminishing flame and took a deep breath to try and calm my heart. Recalling the breathing exercises that Aro had taught us in Specialized Hero Training, I centered my element within my lungs and exhaled a long icy breath, extinguishing the tiny flame. I tried to imagine that the little flame represented my feelings for Edward and could be put out and controlled so easily.

But why did he have to be so interesting? So intriguing? So mysterious? So breathtakingly good looking? So _perfect? _I shook my head to try and clear those thoughts. So frustrating was more like it. Why couldn't he just talk to me? I knew Alice was growing more and more annoyed with him as well, and selfishly I consoled myself with the fact that he wasn't just ignoring me—some random girl at school—but he was ignoring his own sister.

I walked into the gym and plopped down on a seat next to Rose and Em in the bleachers. Boomer was giving us another lecture today since we'd be starting a new unit tomorrow on evasive and offensive running. I had never been a particularly good runner in the past, but I intended to give it my best effort so I would be well prepared for the quarterly "Save the Citizen" challenge. We got to enjoy watching some of the upperclassmen participate in a demonstration round the week before last, and I couldn't wait to try my hand at it.

As Boomer began his much louder than necessary lecture on the best techniques for running after a villain, Rose tilted her head onto Emmett's shoulder and closed her eyes, embracing the opportunity for an afternoon nap. I envied her, and I was surprised by that. Of all the possible reasons to envy Rosalie Hale, I was jealous of the fact that she had a boyfriend whom she liked so much.

I had never really felt the need or desire to have a boyfriend—before two weeks ago that is—I was independent, a strong woman, with a strong head on my shoulders, and eager to do my own thing. But as I watched the comforting way Emmett rubbed her back and stroked her hair while she snoozed, I felt a pang of jealousy in my stomach that caused my head to jolt.

Before I could help myself, I had glanced behind me, my subconscious mind searching for the only person in the gym who could relieve all of my uneasy feelings. Maddeningly, he sat as far away from me as possible, in the very top row, with his almost angry gaze trained on Boomer. I couldn't imagine what he found so intriguing about this lecture, but I longed to.

I willed him to look at me, to do anything that would acknowledge my presence here in the same room as him. But I knew it would never happen. If he wouldn't look at me in Aro's class, with only seven students, or during Lab, when he sat next to me, then there was no way he would be caught looking at me in the gymnasium.

I audibly "hmphed" in a ridiculously whiny voice and turned to face the front. A few minutes later, a rolled up paper ball landed perfectly in my lap and startled me from my hazy focus on Boomer's lecture. Since this was high school, and the only difference between high schoolers and kindergarteners when it came to rolled up paper balls was aim, I had to assume that this crinkled up halfway shredded piece of scrap really was intended to land in my lap, not hit my head. Therefore, I was left to assume that inside this paper ball was likely a note of some kind.

Rolling my eyes, I flattened out the sheet of paper as best I could and strained to read the sloppy, yet vaguely familiar writing.

_Bella-_

_Are you going to Rosalie Hale's party on Friday?_

_Circle: yes no_

I rolled my eyes once again in such an exaggerated fashion that my whole head moved, and then turned around to try and determine the origins of the note. Immediately my eyes flew to the location I had been studying just minutes earlier. Surprisingly though, it was no longer his side profile angled in my direction, now it was actually his face. I inhaled abruptly when I caught his curious, frustrated green eyes with my gaze, and he immediately turned away. It had been far too long since I had last stared into those eyes.

Unfortunately though, I knew the note couldn't have come from him. His handwriting was too neat first of all, and secondly, I was pretty sure that anybody with half a brain at this school would know that I wouldn't miss one of my closest friends' birthday parties (especially since the party planning committee, aka Alice, had roped me into helping out). Since I knew for a fact that Edward had much more than just half a brain, I knew he couldn't possibly be responsible for this note.

A small wave behind me caught my attention, and I saw that it was Jacob Black trying to get my attention. Jacob was really a nice guy with a sunny personality. I grinned in response to his ever present warm smile that accentuated his handsome features. He practically beamed as a result and then began motioning toward Mike Newton. I looked over at him and saw that he was carefully looking away from me. I had to admit, that was a nice change—though suspicious.

I looked back at Jake questioningly and tilted my head toward Mike and then held up the now unfolded paper ball. He grinned further and enthusiastically nodded his head. I laughed and mouthed the word "thanks" before turning back to face the front again.

Before I had a chance to respond, Emmett had stolen the note out of my hand and was quickly reading it for himself with a smirk. When he looked up, he waggled his eyebrows at me. "Newton bothering you again Ice Queen?" he asked in his typical, loud voice.

Unfortunately, he caught Boomer's attention, and I didn't have the opportunity to dignify his snide little comment with a remark before Coach was yelling at him to come to the stage.

"McCartyyyyy!" he hollered, "Front and center, you're going to help me do a demonstration, NOOOW!" he commanded.

Now that her pillow was moving, Rose was forced to sit up and rejoin the waking world. Emmett quickly handed her the note and jogged down the bleacher stairs and then up to the stage.

"What's this?" Rose had the good sense to whisper rather than say out loud.

"A note from Mike, according to Jacob Black," I mumbled.

Rose laughed humorlessly and earned herself a stiff glare from Boomer, but she ignored him. "I guess Alice really did invite the whole school if Mike thinks he's going," she mused. "It's a good thing I have a big house, I'd hate to actually be in the same room as him outside of school if I could help it."

~*~

Rose certainly wasn't kidding about having a big house. Alice had somehow convinced Jasper—one of the few licensed drivers she was acquainted with under the age of 30—to chauffer the two of us from my house to Rose's suburban mansion after school so that we could start setting up and getting ready for the guests. As we pulled through the guard gate, and then along the cobblestone driveway, and up to the front entrance of the single most statuesque and grand house that I had ever stepped foot in, I felt my nerves begin to tingle a little.

I personally had mixed feelings about the party tonight. Sure I was used to seeing all of the students from Sky High on a daily basis, but outside of school, there weren't any rules or protocols to abide by. That made me nervous because frankly I liked rules. Maybe it was because I was the daughter of a police officer, but I most certainly thrilled in the idea of succinct order and law abiding. Something that I was pretty certain wouldn't be on most of the students' minds tonight.

But at the same time, I felt a few ounces of excitement at the idea of the unknown. I had no idea what this night would bring, and that thought thrilled me almost as much as strict rules. Ridiculously ironic as that may seem.

"Are you sure about this?" I asked Alice from the inside of Rose's bathroom. We'd finally finished setting up the decorations and refreshments a little after seven, and according to Alice, the first of the guests would be arriving in a little less than an hour.

"Of course I'm sure about this Bella, now what's the big deal?" Alice insisted, barely concealing her exasperation.

I stared at my reflection in Rose's full length mirror. I hardly recognized myself. Alice had shoved enormous curlers in my hair, made up my face, and somehow convinced me to try on a gorgeous party dress of hers—something she claimed she'd had for ages, but never worn. "I'm too much of an autumn," she had maintained. "This blue is really more in your color palette, Bella."

Reluctantly I agreed to try on the gorgeous dress once she informed me that this wasn't just any informal high school party—that we actually had to dress up. It may have just been my slightly suspicious nature, but it seemed like she had purposefully neglected to tell me that we were supposed to dress formally, just so she could conveniently have a beautiful dress and make up to force upon me when I was most vulnerable.

"It's just—," I sighed, at a loss for words to explain my sudden discomfort. "It's so pretty," I said in barely above a whisper. It was no lie, the silky blue halter dress fell to just above my knees and hugged my slender waist in such a way that it didn't look too skinny, as my severely lacking waist was generally prone to do.

As if she could hold herself back no longer, Alice barged through the door and wrapped me in a surprisingly strong hug for her tiny frame. "Of course it's pretty Bella, it's beautiful really, but only because you're wearing it."

I smiled at her endearments. It didn't matter if it was true or not, the sentiment was just so welcome that I indulged her in curling, then re-curling my hair for the next half an hour and even let her convince me to wear heels.

"Wow Bella," Rose whistled when she returned to her room where Alice was now finishing up getting ready. As pretty as my dress was, I knew it was nothing compared to the dazzling outfit Rose was sporting in honor of her birthday tonight. The bright red dress had only one strap and a loose flowy material that fanned out several inches above her knees. It matched her peep toe pumps, nail polish, and red lip stick perfectly.

"I could definitely say the same thing, Rose. Sheesh, you look like some sort of runway vixen. Emmett is going to be one happy little boy when he sees you tonight!" I exclaimed. Rose grinned, almost shyly, and then gave me a hug.

"I mean it Bella," she whispered in my ear, "You really do look amazing. He won't know what hit him," she said as she pulled away with a wink then went to help Alice with her hair.

I stared at her back in confusion. She couldn't possibly think I was still interested in Alice's brother, could she? I mean, I wasn't denying the allegation or anything, but how could she possibly think that? I hadn't spoken to him in over two weeks. TWO WEEKS! And it's not like I never see him. I have half my classes with him and sit next to him in one, and we even have the same lunch period. The boy ignores me! I had wondered at one point if perhaps I was gaining a new power the more I was around him: invisibility. But why did I have to be invisible just to him? I wished it was the other way around and I could be invisible to everybody else for a change.

"He's coming tonight you know," Alice piped in suddenly, pulling me from my thoughts.

"Who?"

"Oh don't give me that, you know who!" she admonished. I knew who.

"How'd you convince him to show anyway?" Rose asked after I failed to respond.

"The only weapon I had left in the arsenal," Alice sighed, shaking her head in exasperation. "I tried flattery, logic, guilt, my bubbly, yet loveable personality, and it was all to no avail! He wouldn't be swayed!"

"So, what? Does that mean black mail?" Rose asked, with humor evident in her eyes.

Alice's grin became mischievous as she nodded, "As a matter of fact, I had some black mail material which I had been saving for just such an occasion, so Bella," she looked at me pointedly, "You better not screw this up."

I continued to just look at her questioningly, feeling somehow lost in this conversation which seemed to be related to me, though I couldn't be sure.

"You're going to stay upstairs until Edward comes in, I'll be keeping an eye out for him, and when he's at the front door, you're going to make your grand entrance by walking down the stairs."

Finally understanding dawned on my denying mind. "No," I gasped, with utter terror suddenly filling me.

"Relax Bella," Alice soothed, glancing at me in the mirror while she applied some lip gloss, "Just take the stairs slowly, if you watch your step, there's no way you can trip," her voice faded when she saw my expression and the frantic way I was shaking my head. "Bella, you're messing up your hair," she complained.

"Alice, tell me you didn't. Lie to me, I don't care, just tell me you didn't black mail your brother into coming to this party just so I could try to, to," I stuttered, unable to get the offending words out of my mouth, "To what? Seduce him?" I choked as my voice cracked with the high pitch I used.

"Oh come on Bella, I wouldn't waste my blackmail material on something like that," she soothed, and I felt only hesitantly mollified. "He's already thoroughly seduced, the mission of tonight is simply to remind him that he is seduced and show him that he needs to cut the whole self depreciating, I'm too dangerous to pursue a normal relationship crap!" she said forcefully and I felt all of my comfort instantly fade. Never before had I placed so much stock in Emmett's constant teasing that Alice was slightly crazy. Completely delusional was more like it! Were we even talking about the same brother of hers? She only had one, right? How could she possibly think he likes me, when he didn't even talk to me, FOR TWO WHOLE WEEKS! I decided to remind her of that point.

"Alice," I whined, "Didn't you know, he hasn't spoken two words to me in over two weeks! He doesn't like me! This is useless because he never will either!"

Rose was the one to answer this time. "Bella honey, please tell me you don't believe that. He's just stubborn, that's all. Trust me, he is head over heels into you. And even if he wasn't, when he sees you in that dress tonight, he will be. Now stay here with Alice, I'm going to go relieve my charming brother of his welcoming duties, and go greet my guests, namely Emmett since I couldn't care less about the rest of the idiots out there."

I couldn't help but laugh at Rose's last comment as she gracefully exited the room. She was only gone for a few seconds before she poked her head back in and said in a cheerful voice, "Speaking of crushes on brothers of our very good friends, Alice, did you want me to send my brother up to help you keep a look out for Edward?"

"Yes please," Alice grinned as she took the teasing in stride and finished straightening out the hem of her pretty lemon yellow dress. "Don't worry Bella, I have a feeling," she said seriously, as if that should explain everything, "I just know that Edward's going to have a hard time remaining complacent with you after tonight," she mused with a wicked glint in her eyes. I fought the urge to cringe.

"Why's that?" I wondered.

"You can call it intuition I suppose, but I also keep up with the gossip around school, and in case you weren't aware, it is a well-known fact that you haven't asked anybody to go to Homecoming with you next week. Word gets around, and people get antsy, namely, your fan club," she said nonchalantly, but I had to stop her.

"My _fan_ club?" I wondered in confusion.

"Bella, Bella, Bella, you are just so naïve to the male attentions you receive on a daily basis. You're beautiful, smart, and extremely powerful. Not to mention you've got an adorable best friend. People are bound to take notice," she teased.

"What fan club?" I demanded, "What male attentions?"

"My point exactly. Would you like me to list them for you? There's obviously Mike Newton, aka your pet rock as Emmett likes to call him. I'm sure that even you can't be so dense as to have missed his advances. Then there's Eric Yorkie, Tyler Crowley, ever since you saved him from that van that Emmett threw during Hero Training last week, I also have my suspicions about Benjamin from our Specializations Class, and then of course there's my brother and Jacob Black."

"What?" I practically screeched. "You cannot be serious, Benjamin?" I scoffed, "Jacob Black? We're just friends Alice! They all know that!"

Alice shook her head with a grin, "Are you sure about that?" she questioned, "I notice you didn't even try to deny Newton, Yorkie, or Crowley, does that mean you've noticed their affections? You didn't contradict me about my brother either, does that mean you believe me?"

"No! Well maybe, and NO!" I implored her to stop this outrageousness. So maybe I had noticed that Mike, Eric, and Tyler were all a bit too friendly, it wasn't like I was encouraging them, was I?

Before she could respond, we were interrupted by a soft knock on the door and Jasper walked in a second later. Alice breezed out of her seat and allowed him to wrap her in a hug, "Jazzy!" she giggled, I had to stop myself from giggling as well when I saw the happy, enamored glint in her eyes. "How's the party going?"

"Oh, it's fine, everybody is having fun as far as I can tell, but I don't know why I would ever want to stay and mingle down there, when there are two beautiful, and apparently lonely girls sitting up here, simply waiting for me," he charmed and Alice's face melted into a broad grin.

I laughed along with Alice as she led him over to Rose's bed and handed him the remote so he could flip on the TV—of course he put on a Red Sox game, it seemed even super heroes loved baseball. I was glad that Jasper had gotten over his initial aversion to me, I rather liked him as a person, and I definitely liked him for Alice. They were perfect for each other and honestly I was at a loss to understand why they hadn't made any kind of official relationship yet. It just sort of seemed inevitable.

Alice's cell phone chimed, and she read a message which she announced was from Edward. "Alright he's leaving our house now, he should be here in about twenty minutes." My nerves kicked into overdrive as I absorbed exactly what she intended for me to do tonight. For all intents and purposes, I had to try to grab his attention in a way I had failed to for the past two weeks, but I didn't know where to start, and I was fairly certain it would all be useless.

I glanced down at my fingers and saw that tiny ice crystals were shooting out of my fingertips. I cringed and pulled my hands to my chest. Just because I wasn't feeling bad enough, now I had another item to add to the accident log that Aro gave us for Specializations. I had been doing so well!

When I looked up again, Jasper was staring at me curiously, "Your nerves are a bit overpowering over here Bella, the Sox are winning and they're up to bat, but your nerves are making me doubt everything in the game, what's up?"

I sighed, there was no point denying Jasper's emotional intuition, after all, it was his gift. "It's nothing really, I'm just nervous about seeing everybody outside of school," I half lied. At least he couldn't read my mind.

"Oh she's just nervous because Edward is going to see her all dressed up and looking even more gorgeous than usual. The boy won't know what to do with himself. Personally, I can't wait," Alice chimed in, very unhelpfully.

"Do my ears deceive me?" Jasper teased in a mock astonished voice, "Is our little Bella finally going to make her move?"

Alice had doubled over in laughter as a result of his patronizing tone. I simply rolled my eyes and froze both of their mouths shut. I had perfected that move just the other day on Emmett, I thoroughly enjoyed using it.

I had to admit, the looks on their faces were pretty comical. Alice was a mixture of stunned and furious. As she traced her fingers along her frozen mouth, her eyes grew impossibly wider and she turned to face me accusingly as her hands landed on her waist.

"Mwhew-WA!" she said, and then it was my turn to double over laughing. "Mwhew-wa, mwhen hun!" she tried again, and by that point I had tears streaming down my face. Her glare became more severe, most likely because I was messing up the makeup she had just applied to my face.

I chanced a peek over to Jasper, and was glad to see that he looked amused as well, not even bothered by the fact that he could no longer speak coherently, so I grinned. Seemingly content, he just laid down on one of Rose's fluffy velvet covered pillows and continued watching the game in his own newly peaceful world.

Alice, on the other hand, was not one to be satisfied in a world with only peace and quiet. She had grabbed one of Rose's washrags and was wetting it with hot water in the sink just outside Rose's bathroom. She sat down on one of Rose's makeup stools—as I liked to call them since their only purpose was to allow you to sit while you applied makeup in front of the mirror—and glared at my smug reflection in the mirror. I hadn't used very thick layers of ice, so her mouth would probably be free in a few too short minutes if she continued nursing it with the hot water from her rag.

She picked up her phone, reread her text message, and then glanced back up at me with an evil threat in her eyes. When she pressed the word reply, and I noticed that the message was for Edward, I panicked. "Don't make me freeze your phone Alice," I threatened right back.

She looked at me, trying to gauge my seriousness. "I'll do it," I affirmed, and she dropped the phone and resorted to glaring at me again. I wondered if my responding grin looked malicious, or simply triumphant.

She got up and put more hot water on her washrag and then motioned for me to sit in her vacated chair before the mirror. As if sensing my hesitancy, her eyes burned with exasperated fury and changed to a vibrant shade of green. At the same time, I heard Rose's window swing open roughly as the vines from the trellis outside shot into the room. I was too shocked to respond as the flowery plant quickly climbed the walls and the floor in the room, heading straight for us.

I looked to Alice in confused shock and she managed to grin as she pointed first to the plant, and then to me. In less than a second, the leafy, flowery vines had entangled me and pushed me forward so I was forced to sit down on the makeup stool. They bound me in place and I stared at my flabbergasted eyes in the reflection and then at Alice's newly gleeful face.

Alice's eyes were still bright green as she began fluffing my hair and fixing the makeup around my eyes. I honestly couldn't move thanks to her demon plants. When I looked to Jasper for help, his icy blue eyes stared back with mirth and though he was unable to speak, it seemed like he wanted to say, "That's what you get."

When she finished with me a few minutes later, Alice held her hand up, telling me to stay put—as if I had a choice. She breezed back toward the newly opened window and glanced outside. She stood there for a little over a minute before clapping her hands together and dancing back over to me.

Without a word, she made an arching motion with her right arm in front of her, and all of her leafy plants flew back out the window. I shook out my arms and stood up, eager to enjoy my freedom. Unfortunately, with Alice, freedom wasn't always an option. She grabbed my hand and towed me toward the door of Rose's room. She gave me a quick hug, opened the door, and then shoved me out into the hall. She frantically pointed toward the stairs and tried to encourage me forward.

Taking the hint, and not wanting to face anymore of Alice's wrath, I walked to the stairs and made it to the top just as the front door opened and a shock of coppery auburn hair attached to Edward's body made its way inside. As if Alice's intentions could not go anymore according to plan than they were, when I took my first step, his glorious green eyes locked on mine, and for the first time in two weeks, he noticed me. I might have smiled, or I might have just stood there feeling even more shocked then I had when Alice sicced her plants on me.

His pupils dilated and all the way from the top of the stairs I saw the flecks of red appear around his irises. I continued walking towards him, and it looked like he was frozen in place. I felt the warmth in my hand clutching the banister as I descended and knew that I was probably leaving a trail of ice, but I couldn't care less.

It was a miracle that I didn't trip once on the black heels that I had foolishly acquiesced to wearing, but when I reached the bottom step and was able to stare perfectly into Edward's eyes, I could find no regret in my footwear choices for the evening.

"Hello Edward," I said softly, praying that he wouldn't ignore me again. I wasn't sure my heart could take it.

"Bella," he sighed my name, causing my heart rate to quicken. "You look—," he paused.

"Thank you, so do you," I said, unable to think of anything else. He really did look wonderful. He was dressed in all black, as per his typical attire, but his black slacks and soft looking long sleeve button up shirt—which he had pushed up his muscled arms—was complimented with a cerulean blue tie which perfectly matched my dress.

"Alice," I sighed in frustration at the same time he said, "Beautiful."

I felt the warm blush creep into my face. Did he just call me beautiful? _Alice, I take it back! You can dress me up whenever you want! I'm your human Barbie Doll; do with me as you please!_ I thought, but had the good sense not to actually say out loud.

A waiter walked over and offered us a tray of small appetizers, but I was too distracted to acknowledge him. Edward's mouth twitched, and I saw it open the tiniest amount in order to say something, "I'm—," he paused again and our moment was preserved.

Unfortunately, Mike Newton, pest that he was becoming, was next to attempt to break our stupor. "Bella!" he exclaimed, "You made it!"

I blinked, and Edward's eyes narrowed.

"Of course she made it, you idiot, Rose is one of her best friends," Edward said stoically, and then walked away without another word. I was left staring after him as he departed toward the kitchen area. Mike had resumed speaking, but I couldn't find the normal diplomacy I employed to deal with these situations to respond to him. I simply walked away as well, not entirely certain where I was going. What was he going to say? Why did he leave?

I found myself outside on a beautiful patio surrounded by bushes of native red roses and soft, twinkling white lights. I saw one lone figure sitting on a bench in the corner and I approached slowly.

"Hey Ice Queen," he called in a surprisingly subdued tone. I wondered at his lack of boisterousness.

"What are you doing out here alone Em?" I wondered aloud.

"I could ask you the same thing," he pointed out.

"True, but I asked you first, so you have to answer first," I said childishly. He grinned and I sat down beside him.

"Bella, do you ever wonder what Rose even sees in me?" he asked earnestly, and I noticed he was fumbling with a full red bloom that he must have picked from one of the bushes behind us. I watched his motions carefully for a moment as I tried to decide what to say.

"Oh, Emmett, there's plenty to be seen in you," I said eagerly, "You're a really great guy, with a fun personality, and sometimes you're even sweet," I teased him. He smiled self consciously again and continued to play with the rose petals. "The best part is, Rose doesn't even like you for just superficial reasons the way most people do at this school," I encouraged. "I don't think she could care less if you were a super hero or a side kick or the bus driver! And you know what?" I asked softly.

He looked at me with his eyebrows raised, the hopeful gleam in his eyes unlike anything I'd ever seen from him before. "What?" he finally pushed.

"I think you feel the same way about her. I think you look past all of her pretenses and right into who she really is, and I think she knows that," I said in an increasingly soft voice.

He considered me for a moment, and finally set the rose down in his lap. "Bella, I want to tell her I love her tonight," he said, and I smiled hugely, I never would have pegged him for a romantic.

"So do it," I challenged.

"But what if she says she doesn't love me back?" he argued.

"Who cares," I said defiantly, "At least she'll know, and you won't feel like you have to keep that information trapped inside of you anymore."

He grinned and nodded his head as if this made perfect sense. "You're right," he stated.

"And you're surprised about that?" I teased.

He stood up and poked me in the shoulder. "Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn every once in a while," he shot back as he poked me again.

"Ouch! Gees, super strength, Em, remember?" I complained, rubbing my now red shoulder.

He smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, I'm just excited I guess. I'm going to go tell her right now!"

He turned to walk away with his long super human strides. Before he reached the door though, he stopped and faced me again. "Bella, I think you should tell Edward how you feel as well," he said seriously.

I scowled. How was everybody so aware of my stupid little crush?

"Before you freak out, no, you're not as obvious as you think, but I'm also not as dumb as I look. I may have only known you for a few weeks, but I know the way you look at him in Hero Training is different from the way you look at anybody else," he stated confidently. I was still scowling. "If it helps, I've known Edward for several years, thanks to Alice, and I am also well aware of the fact that he likes you too. So if the two of you would please just talk to each other, and try and sort this whole situation out, then maybe we could all move on with our lives and everybody will stop being so mopey!"

"Em—," I tried to argue, but he cut me off with a swift shake of his head.

"I'm telling you Bella, I can't take the mopiness anymore. Seeing Ed flustered, was entertaining for the first few days, but now it's just getting old. So please just work out whatever it is that's keeping you two apart _before_ my head explodes."

I sighed and shook my head in slightly humored vexation. Emmett was certainly not somebody to beat around the bush. "Now, I'm sending Edward out here, so you better work up the nerve to say something worthwhile, otherwise I'll be forced to take matters into my own hands," he warned.

"You wouldn't," I deadpanned, feeling nervous all over again.

"Oh I most certainly would."

"You're just as bad as Alice!"

"You look really nice tonight Bella," he said in some sort of failed attempt at flattery, and that was all. He walked inside and left me alone in a state of confused nervousness. My mind was racing and I was trying to figure out what to say if Edward really did come out here. Should I leave? Should I just go hide back up in Rosalie's room with Alice and Jasper or maybe go look for Angela or Carmen or Rose? What could we possibly have to say to each other?

Before I could consider more seriously my desire to run away using the techniques Coach Boomer had taught us in Hero Training, the wide glass door slid open and Edward stood before me on the patio. I gasped, surprised that he was here already. "Edward," I said breathlessly.

"Emmett said you wanted to speak with me?" he said flatly. His face showed a flurry of emotions, like he didn't want to be here, but at the same time he did.

"Er, right," I stuttered, "Um, have a seat?"

He looked at me for a long moment, and I recognized the desire to flee as it flitted across his eyes before he cautiously took a seat beside me on the bench.

I considered freezing him in place for a moment, simply so he couldn't leave. With one sentence he had more than doubled the amount of words he had spoken to me within the last two weeks. Maybe it was my right to freeze him here until he explained himself. Alice wouldn't have hesitated in doing the same. I briefly glanced at the thorny rose bushes once again and thought about what a vindictive Alice might be capable of with those pretty, perilous plants. I made a mental note to remain on her good side from now on.

"Look Bella, I'm not a good friend for you," he said finally when I refused to break the silence that kept us together.

I glared at him. "Why?" I demanded, "Because you think you're too dangerous? Is that really what this is all about?"

He nodded one stiff inclination of his head, looking defiant. Despite the angry set of his features, I felt the tiniest bit of optimism enter my consciousness. He wasn't ignoring me because he didn't like me, but because he didn't want to hurt me. Foolish as that may be, it still meant that he didn't simply feel indifferent toward me. Maybe there was hope after all. "Fire is dangerous Bella," he said severely, "I've burned people before without trying. My father—," he coughed out, "He killed people with fire, I could kill somebody with this," he glared at his hands, and I glared at him.

"Newsflash Edward," I said sarcastically, "We're both dangerous! That's why we attend a school that isn't even located on the Earth; nobody wants us around their children, we're all too dangerous!" I knew I'd said it before, but it seemed necessary to say it again. He just didn't get it! "So don't try and tell me that you're more dangerous than me, because it's not true Edward!" I tried to rein in my annoyance, but it was barreling out of control.

"Some people at our school are far more dangerous than others, Bella," he contended, and I couldn't help the small shiver I felt when he said my name. But it wasn't time for that; he still had to be convinced that his reasoning was fallible.

I sat silently for a long moment, staring at his green eyes that were once again tinged with red. His fingertips looked to be smoking. I placed my hand in his and felt the sensation Amy Lowell had described in her poem, Opal. His hands were so hot against my cold ones, they burned like snow. His eyes shot up to mine, and the poetic inspiration I felt thanks to the strange feeling elicited my next statement.

"Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice," I said softly, recalling the dark poem by Robert Frost which I had first read years ago.

His eyes grew large and remained trained on mine. I wondered if he knew the poem. He glanced down at my lips as I finally continued, "From what I've tasted of desire, I hold with those who favor fire."

I shrugged. I felt too young to fully understand the words of this poem, but in that instant, I knew that I did. I wanted to kiss him, more than I'd ever wanted to kiss anyone. So much so that it hurt, it stung, it burned me.

"But if I had to perish twice," he continued where I left off in the poem. And I blinked rapidly, so he did know it? "I think I know enough of hate, to say that for destruction, ice is also great. And would suffice."

I continued to stare at him. The twinkling strands of lights on the patio reflected off his shiny hair and eyes, making the moment feel ethereal. "You don't hate me, do you Edward?" I asked in a quiet voice so as not to disrupt the atmosphere.

"Never," he vowed. "I could never hate you, though I admit, I hated what you did to me."

I felt confused, "What did I do to you?"

"You woke me up and made me feel, you made me feel like—like I don't even know," He stared into my eyes for a long minute as he gathered his thoughts, "I guess you made me feel human, and like I wanted to be human, for you, even though I'm not," he sighed.

"But Edward, you are human," I argued, and his mouth set in a thin line that suggested exasperation.

"Bella, why don't you see?" he demanded. "Look at my eyes, what color are they?"

I didn't need to look to respond, "Emerald green," I answered easily.

"No, what color are they _now_?"

Red. They were ruby red. And like when my eyes turned white while I was at my most dangerous, and Alice's turned green, Edward's turned red. I knew what he was suggesting.

I couldn't take it any longer; I couldn't stand his self depreciation. So I leaned over and kissed him, hard. The feeling of his lips on mine was the same shock I felt in our hands but magnified to a much stronger intensity. I watched in satisfaction as his eyes quickly went from fiery, blood red, to soft, warm green. I loved this sensation.

I focused my icing energy once again on the air in my lungs and blew a thousand tiny ice crystals into his mouth. He gasped and I grinned when I felt his fiery hot breath caress my face and fill my lungs. "I'm only as human as you are," I whispered into his ear, still channeling my icing energy into my lungs so that his earlobe gathered ice crystals while I spoke. The steam coming out of his ear melted the ice almost as quickly as it formed and I thrilled in all of the feelings of warm, hot, fiery heat contrasting cold, cold ice.

"I'm tired of staying away from you Bella," he said softly, desperately. He sounded so small and tired in that moment.

"Then don't," I responded simply.

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**A/N Whew! What a chapter! I hope you all hate me a little bit less after reading. In case you don't, I have one more surprise for you. I believe I promised an EPOV last time, which unfortunately got screwed up as I tried to send it out through P/M's. So! Here's what I decided to do. I'm going to just post it right here, and you can read it if you want. Take a deep breath and get situated as I take you back in time ;)**

**Context: This was the day before Edward stopped speaking to Bella. **

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**EPOV**

**When I saw her, I knew. Alice. Her bright face full of smug and barely concealed shock threw reality right back into my face. What was I doing here?**

**I was following Bella toward the bus lane without a single coherent thought in my head. My mind was just a sloppy mess of **_**Bella, Bella, Bella, Bella.**_** And here I was walking next to her toward Ron Wilson the bus driver and his big yellow bus that carried about half the freshmen to and from school on a daily basis. **

**I glanced over at Bella, and my thoughts exploded once again. Her beautiful, smooth skin called to me. It was translucent, and I just needed to touch it to make sure it was there. I wondered if she would notice or care if my fingers brushed up against the side of her arm, or maybe her cheek. Maybe while I was at it, I could wrap my fingers in her long, dark mahogany hair that fell all around her face. It looked so soft and silky, but I couldn't be sure until I felt it. **

**Her warm, molten chocolate eyes were trained on Alice, and a soft pink blush creeped up her neck as we moved closer to her. But I couldn't do this. I couldn't just claim her, or grab her and never let go. It was too dangerous. Fire was too dangerous. **_** I**_** was too dangerous. **

**When I looked into Alice's face I was reminded of all the nightmares I had about accidentally hurting her. All the times I had woken up sweating and cursing and terrified because I thought I had hurt Alice or Esme or Carlisle. I really didn't want to add another name to my list of potential victims. And so it was decided. I would have to stay away from her. From this moment on. **

**It was a mercy really that I hadn't gotten to know her too well, that would have only made staying away more difficult. But if I left right now, then I still had a chance. I could still do anything and everything in my power to keep her off that list. I couldn't waste another second. I wanted to look at her face, just one last time before I walked away permanently, but I knew it would only make this more difficult. So I stormed away without another word. I left her and Alice behind and walked straight to the classroom I used for teleportation. **

**I knew Alice wouldn't be happy with me. I could see it on her face, she was thrilled with the idea that we might be friends at the very least, and I was about to ruin it. But she wouldn't be able to sway me, I had already made up my mind, and nobody could change it.**

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**A/N: I hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive my complete update fail. I'm resisting the urge to rec some underappreciated stories right now, because seriously, you guys have already put up with enough from me lol… but feel free to rec any stories that you have written or read in a review and that way anybody who's looking for a good story can go read one.**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N Sorry, sorry, sorry!**

**Disclaimer: All Twilight and Sky High related characters and scenarios do not belong to me**

**This chapter begins on the Friday of Rosalie's Birthday Party, so back in time just a little bit. It's in Edward's POV, and there's a whole lot of stuff going on.**

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Chapter 9 - Friend or Foe

"So when are you gonna ask her?" I heard a male voice inquire from behind me.

The question wasn't directed at me, but knowing who it was about made it impossible for me to ignore. I gritted my teeth and glared at the front, the spot just behind Aro's head. I grudgingly listened in on the whispered conversation between Alex and Benjamin as they motioned toward the lab table which Alice and Bella occupied.

I could practically feel my eyes shifting to bright red as I imagined her saying yes to one of those juvenile pricks. Maybe it was me, but it seemed like half the school (the male half, that is) was lined up and just waiting to ask Bella to the upcoming Homecoming Dance. So much for "Girls Choice".

"Jacob Black was pretty confident that she was going to ask him, so if she hasn't asked him by the end of the day today, I'll make my move at Rosalie's party," Benjamin replied. His voice was a little too enthusiastic for my taste and he managed to catch Aro's attention, distracting him from his lecture.

"Who can tell me the best way to use your gift on a very broad expanse of land, for instance an entire building or even a small town? Benjamin?" Aro asked pointedly. For any other teacher, this sort of pointed question would be considered a reprimand or even a punishment, but there was no mistaking the indulgent little grin on Aro's face. Sometimes it felt like we could do no wrong in this class. Aro never grew angry or revealed any sort of annoyance with our actions.

Benjamin simply shrugged and grinned apologetically, unable to answer the question. Idiot.

"Bella, any ideas?" Aro asked with a wink. I saw Victoria scowl behind his back, I don't think she was used to anyone else being the favorite. At least, not Aro's favorite.

A little flushed from the attention, Bella took a deep breath and answered in a confident voice. "Well, I suppose I would take a few moments to center myself, and then concentrate on forcing all the energy in my body from my stomach to my outer extremities. Using the visualization methods we learned earlier, I would picture the area I wanted to freeze and then expel all the energy from my body in a single fluid motion as I exhaled."

Aro beamed at her, "Such a natural," he praised, "It's so nice to hear you speak up in class my dear."

She blushed at his comment and I made sure to spin my head away as quickly as possible. I agreed with him completely—hearing her say anything, even if she was reading straight from a dictionary of boring medical terminology, would feel like music. But I couldn't look at her when she blushed like that, it was too tempting.

I knew it was my own fault that we hadn't spoken in weeks, but it stung a little that she didn't even seem the least bit bothered by my avoidance. Alice was a different story altogether though.

Alice was barely speaking to me, ignoring me when we were at school and making it overly obvious that she was furious with me for not joining her happy little circle of friends. Just last night she graduated to threatening me. She had barged into my room around 8 p.m. and told me we could do things the easy way or the hard way. Essentially, she informed me that if I didn't attend Rosalie's birthday party/debutant ball that Alice was throwing, then she would expose my responsibility in breaking Esme's beautiful ceramic vase. The one she inherited from her grandmother.

It was 6 years ago when it broke, and the swindling 8 year old that she was, agreed to keep the secret but promised that one day she would call on a favor in return. Over the years, I had assumed she'd forgotten, but apparently the little godfather protégé wanted to cash in her "favor" by forcing me to attend the stupid party with all her friends, not to mention a good amount of people that she probably didn't even know.

When the bell rang to signal the end of the school week, Benjamin rushed out of his seat to carry Bella's backpack (which she thankfully refused) and walk her to the bus. What a chump—he didn't even ride the stupid bus. I purposefully ignored the fact that I had done the same thing myself when I first met Bella.

The rest of the students had rushed out of the classroom as soon as the bell rang, but I slowly gathered my things and prepared to go home. As I was finally zipping up my back pack, a girl with purple hair casually strolled into the class toward Aro's desk. I recognized her as one of the people that Alice and Bella usually ate lunch with, but I couldn't remember her name.

She carelessly tossed a note onto Aro's desk and turned to leave, when she was halted by Aro clearing his throat to gain her attention. "Excuse me young lady, but what is _this_?" he asked, lifting the note with his pencil as if he was too disgusted to touch it.

"A note," she said sarcastically, then turned to leave again.

"I'm aware that it's a note," he responded with an icy tone that I barely recognized. His normal reedy voice resounded with a much lower pitch. "I deduced that with my own two eyes, what I'm unaware of, however, is why it's on my desk."

The girl flipped her hair behind her shoulder in a move that I recognized as a sign of defiance. "I was unaware that you couldn't read Dr. Banner."

The skin on Aro's bare forehead creased as his eyes grew wide, and then narrowed. "Perhaps you should watch your tone," he advised in a shockingly dangerous voice. I had finished gathering my things already, but I was trapped in the classroom watching this confrontation. I was intrigued because I had never seen Aro act anything but completely cordial, I almost preferred she didn't watch her tone, just to see what would happen.

The girl opened her mouth to respond again, most likely with something that would make my day, but Aro cut her off this time. "I would hate to give you a detention Miss Weber, but if the next words out of your mouth are not an apology and an explanation for your rude behavior, I shall have no choice."

"Fine," she practically growled. I couldn't help my smile. "I'm sorry you're a pompous know-it-all, and my rude behavior is likely a result of your rude treatment of me and those you deem inferior. I simply came in here to deliver a note from the front office—apparently you have a visitor, a Mr. Volturi—and I'm probably going to miss my bus home thanks to this little side trip. Have a nice day," she seethed, and then proceeded to storm out of the room.

"One moment Miss Weber," Aro called sanguinely, but his voice hadn't returned to its normal pitch—there was still something menacing about it. When she turned to glare at him, he tore a slip of paper off his pad of detention slips and held it out to her. "No need to worry about missing your bus now is there?" he asked, "Please report to Principal Powers' office for your detention assignment right away. I'll let her know you're coming."

Her eyes burned with so much fury, I wondered if they would turn red like mine. She ripped the paper out of his hands and tore it in half before tossing it on the floor and once again storming out of the room. I tried to hide my grin when Aro finally looked at me inquisitively. That girl was a spitfire, she reminded me of Bella.

His face lifted into an amused grin in turn, apparently misinterpreting my expression for approval of his actions. "Ah Edward, if there's one thing I've learned in my time teaching here," he said calmly, the usual reedy voice back in use, "It is that insolence is everywhere, and it needs to be dealt with accordingly."

There was a soft knock on the door that saved me from answering, so I quickly swung my backpack on so that I could leave before Aro's visitor arrived.

"Do you have a moment Edward, there's somebody I'd love for you to meet. You're not missing a bus or anything, correct?"

I shook my head and waited curiously, feeling slightly uncomfortable, especially after what I had just witnessed. Aro opened the door for a man in a raven black business suit that matched the exact shade of his hair. He looked familiar. "Marcus, such a lovely surprise, what are you doing here this afternoon?" he asked amicably.

Marcus' eyes looked glazed when he finally glanced over toward me. "One of your students?" he asked, ignoring Aro's small talk.

"Indeed," Aro beamed, "One of my finest. Edward, I'd like for you to meet Marcus Volturi, you might recognize him as the Honorable Marcus Volturi, or perhaps as the soon-to-be elected Senator Volturi."

I nodded, I had seen a few of his campaign commercials, now that I thought about it. "Nice to meet you," I said simply.

"Are you in Aro's elements class, then?" His eyes seemed to become foggier the longer he looked at me. I felt the skin on my neck begin to prickle, and subconsciously my hands moved to a more defensive position, ready to expel fire at a moment's notice.

I nodded, feeling uncertain.

"Wonderful," Aro crooned. "Now I hate to ask you to leave Edward, but unfortunately, this conversation is likely a private one. Have a splendid weekend, I'll see you on Monday."

Without a word I pushed up the other strap on my backpack and walked toward the teleportation classroom, still feeling uneasy. Who was Aro really? He was a super genius, and he taught a class of super heroes how to control their elements, but that was really all I knew about him. What was he doing consorting with politicians?

There was obviously another side to Aro, one that he was able to conceal completely at times, but maybe it wasn't anything significant. Maybe Marcus Volturi was just a long time friend and maybe Aro just didn't react well to sarcasm. But then I thought of all the sarcastic remarks that had occurred within his elements class. Bella was probably the worst perpetrator of such comments, but she was undoubtedly his favorite. I shook my head to clear my mind of the confusing thoughts. Who Aro was outside of class wasn't really any concern of mine. He was a really good teacher when it came to Elements and I felt like I had a better mastery of my ability than ever before. I felt more powerful with my ability than ever before—but I felt more dangerous as well. I would just have to work on my control more.

~*~

At quarter to nine I slipped into the fancy clothes that Alice insisted I wear and drove to Rosalie's house. I loved having my license because it meant I didn't have to show up with anybody else and I could leave whenever I pleased—well whenever Alice was satisfied with me at least.

Planning already how to best make an early escape, I marched up the cobble stone walkway to the great oak doors that lead inside. I was dreading this. Alice had texted me earlier to let me know that she was hanging out upstairs with Jasper so as soon as I was inside, I made my way to the stairs in order to prove that I had come.

But then all my plans evaporated into thin air, right along with any other coherent thoughts I might have had when I glanced up and saw who was standing at the top of the stair case. _Bella._

Of course it was her, who else could turn my mind to mush so completely? Her glorious dark hair was shinier than ever and styled in luxurious curls that fell past her shoulders. Her pale skin looked to be glowing in the lighting of the front hall, and her pale blue dress fitted her tiny curves perfectly. The best part, as always, was her eyes. They were molten brown and mysterious, and she had some kind of shimmery power applied all around them. They drew me in and held me without hope of escape. She was so beautiful.

Before I knew it, she was gliding down the stairs. I was mesmerized by the trail of ice she left in her path as she came to a stop right in front of me.

I honestly have no idea what she said to me—much less what I said in return, though I'm sure it was nothing poetic. But then Newton showed up and ruined it. He brought the real world with him and I was reminded once again of all the admirers already vying for Bella's attention and of all the reasons I couldn't be one of them. I was sure they would all be in heaven with her tonight—in that dress. Why did she have to wear that dress?

After tonight, I was most likely going to hate my life, right along with whichever little jerk she chose to take to the Homecoming Dance. Alice was cruel making me come here to witness this.

When she seemed to be distracted, I escaped to the huge kitchen that Rosalie's mother had recently finished remodeling. There were waiters everywhere assembling trays of hors d'oeuvres and pouring drinks on the long marble countertop so I grabbed a glass out of the cupboard and filled it with water out of the sink, trying not to disrupt their work. I idly wondered if Rose's mother was here tonight, she usually loved this type of soiree, always inviting people over to the house. Thinking about how reclusive Jasper typically acted and how distant Rosalie remained with anybody apart from her close circle of friends always made me question if she was even really related to them—apart from their looks of course, Jasper and Rosalie both got their light hair and eyes from Mrs. Hale.

I began imagining some of the plans and excuses I had cooked up to escape the party early while still keeping Alice satisfied, when I remembered I still hadn't told her I had arrived even arrived. I walked back to the door that lead out to the living room, where most of the party guests were congregated, and peeked out, searching for her in the room. I saw a few of the people that Alice and Bella ate lunch with, including the girl with the purple hair who yelled at Aro today, but it looked like most of the people in attendance were in the Hero class, not sidekicks.

Benjamin and Alex were talking to Jacob Black on the far side of the room, their eyes roaming around the other people in the room, likely searching for Bella. I spied James and Laurent, much to my surprise, huddled in a corner, speaking to Victoria, and another girl in my year whom I recognized as Heidi Reynolds—Heidi was able to make exact replicas of herself, and she employed her clones as the unofficial cheering squad at the school. Why we needed a cheering squad? I had no idea.

Alice was nowhere in sight, so I made my way to the secondary parlor in order to look for her there. I saw Rosalie conversing with Kate Denali and the girl I was pretty certain was her younger sister, Tanya. Irinia was nearby with a few other girls I didn't really know, so I made sure to stay out of their line of sight. I waved at Rosalie and mouthed "Happy Birthday" hoping that she would act as my witness if Alice decided I hadn't done enough mingling at the party.

As soon as she saw me though, Rose nearly sprinted away from the Denali sisters and wrapped my arm around her shoulder in a shockingly intimate way. "Um, I don't think Emmett—," I started to complain, but she cut me off.

"Oh don't flatter yourself Edward, I just wanted to see the look on their faces when they see you willingly talking to me while you do such a good job of evading them."

"Willingly?" I teased. She swatted my arm.

"Have you seen Emmett? I haven't seen him in half an hour and being nice and talking to people that I would happily ignore on a regular basis is driving me mad. I need him."

"Um, we could check in the kitchen," I suggested, perhaps a little too eagerly. Being around all these people was making me a little crazy as well—especially wondering where Bella was and who she might be talking to. I wanted to know and see the lucky individual for myself, but at the same time I didn't.

"Ok, I haven't checked there yet," she agreed.

"You haven't seen Alice around have you?" I asked after a moment. As soon as we were in the kitchen Rose removed herself from beneath my arm and began looking over the trays of food and drinks with a critical eye.

"She came down for a second, to see if you had arrived, but she went right back upstairs, she said something about a baseball game on TV."

"So Jasper's up there I take it?"

She grinned mischievously and nodded. "He doesn't particularly care for this type of thing, so Alice will probably humor him and let him hang out in one of the upstairs bedrooms for the rest of the evening."

I frowned, that was so unfair!

"Ray, what did you say these were called again?" she asked, pointing to a tray of crispy looking pastries.

The head waiter turned and glanced at the dish before smoothly responding, "Those are the spinach empanadas Miss Hale, they're quite good with the mustard sauce, would you like to try one?"

She nodded and picked one up before dipping it in the sauce. She bit it daintily then turned around to face me. "Here Edward, do you want to try—there they are! I was starting to worry!" she exclaimed, looking past me and out the window by the sink.

I spun around to see who she was talking about and caught sight of Emmett and Bella sitting close together on a patio surrounded by rose bushes and twinkling lights just outside. The lights reflected off of Bella's hair, making it impossible for me to look away. "Is that—?" I paused, "Are they—?" The sudden onslaught of jealousy crept out of my stomach and closed my throat up, making it difficult to breathe.

Rosalie began hitting me on the back, releasing me from my stupor. "Breathe Edward! Breathe!" she called.

"What the—?" I still hadn't regained any sort of speech mastery so it was difficult to finish a sentence. "Will you—?" After two more whacks, I finally twisted out of her reach and stared at her with my mouth agape. "Was that really necessary?"

The devious smirk on her face made me think not. "I just saved your life, you should be thanking me," she said haughtily, "Your tomb stone would have read, 'Death by Irrational Jealousy' your parents would have been so embarrassed!"

It took me a moment to process what she had said, and in turn, what she was implying. "Wha—," I sputtered, "No! No way. I am not jealous. It's just Emmett, and I don't have any reason to be jealous, it's not what you think," I said in a rush.

She rolled her eyes at me and shook her head. "Edward you stopped breathing at the sight of her with another boy. A boy who has practically adopted her as his long lost little sister. Not to mention, a boy who is very much taken," she said pointedly.

I nodded, attempting to release all remnants of the leftover raw emotion. I had become familiar with the little green monster over the past few weeks, but never had I been prone to such an attack. What was wrong with me?

"Relax Edward," she continued, a bit more subdued, "They're just talking. I trust Emmett and I trust Bella, heck they're probably talking about you out there and all the drama you cause in Bella's life," she mused.

I looked at her feeling confused, "What drama? She doesn't even care that we haven't spoken in over two weeks. I don't think she likes me," I admitted.

To my great surprise, Rose smacked me again—but this time on the back of the head. "Stupid boy," she muttered, and then walked right out of the kitchen saying something about having to attend to her party guests.

I was too busy rubbing the back of my head, wondering if Rose had been lifting weights with Emmett lately to say anything in protest. What was her deal?

Conceptually, I knew Rosalie was 100 percent right about trusting Emmett and Bella out on the patio—alone—but that didn't stop me from keeping an eye on them through the kitchen window, just in case.

They talked for several minutes and I found myself moving closer and closer to the sliding glass door which led out to the patio. What were they talking about anyway?

I tried to look occupied with the bushy green fake plant stationed by the back door when Emmett finally came back inside. But despite my efforts, he called to me almost instantly after sliding the door closed with a click. The knowing smirk on his face made me nervous. "Edward Cullen, just the fire breathing man I was looking for," he said loudly, drawing the attention of a group of junior girls nearby.

"Hey Emmett, what can I do for you?" I greeted, much more quietly.

His grin grew and there was no denying the mischievousness in his expression. "Oh, nothing for me, but Bella on the other hand has asked for a word with you," he paused for a moment to let that sink in, "She saw you spying on us while we were talking, she looks pretty upset. You should probably go talk to her right away," he advised. He looked far too happy about this.

I swallowed hard and realized that I had just screwed up and now I would have to apologize. I walked past him to the door feeling slightly mortified and thoroughly afraid. I pulled the it open and stopped in the frame. What if she was really angry with me? Would she freeze me again?

I studied her features for a moment and couldn't find the anger that Emmett had alluded to. The confused me. "Edward," she gasped, as if I had frightened her.

We didn't even talk about my being caught in the act of espionage and I started to wonder if Emmett had been making the whole thing up. Instead, she made her arguments once again as to why she was just as dangerous as I was and slowly she began breaking through my carefully constructed walls. It didn't help that they had been exhausted this past week from the inside, now all she had to do was knock a few times and the airtight structure I had built to keep her away from me for her own protection, came tumbling down.

I was tired of avoiding her, tired of pretending she didn't affect me, and my will was crumpling thanks to that darn dress. And then the kiss.

I can guarantee it was no ordinary kiss. Her icy cold lips and breath chilled me to the bone and the feeling was all electricity and sparks. She was so cold that she burned and I felt like my blood wanted to boil.

There were tiny ice crystals everywhere and I melted them as soon as they formed. They were delicious, and she was delicious—like cool mint. I never wanted to stop.

She told me to stop staying away from her. My body sang. My mind found no objections—at least none that I could remember while she had me locked in this mental fog.

My hand remained wrapped in hers as if she was begging me to stay and we stared at each other for a long minute until the moment was ruined when I heard a girly giggle resound from somewhere above my head. It was distinctly not Bella, but it was also not unfamiliar.

"Alice!" I growled.

She didn't pull her head back inside the upstairs window quickly enough to avoid getting caught. Bella would most likely think spying was some sort of Cullen tradition at this point.

Defiantly, Alice puffed her head back out and stared me in the eye with the same threatening look she had used to convince me to attend this party in the first place. "Don't 'Alice' me!" she yelled, with absolutely no remorse. "You wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for me, you should be thanking—," she cut off speaking. I stared up at her in confusion until I noticed that her mouth looked to be frozen shut. She was fumbling with it and glaring down at us.

"Thank you Alice," Bella said pointedly. When I realized what had happened I couldn't help the smile that broke across my face.

"I've been trying to get her to shut up for years, and finally I've found somebody who is able to do it for me. Wow, I definitely surrender. You are the one mighty and powerful ice maker, how did I ever doubt your power?" I laughed and Alice scowled indignantly as she slammed the window closed.

Bella laughed as well and I found I really enjoyed the sound. I wanted to make her do that again.

"So what now, Edward?" she asked.

I smiled when she said my name. It was really nice hearing her say it.

"I take it you're throwing all my cautions to the wind and ignoring any sense of self preservation you may or may not have?" I teased, half-seriously. I still wasn't convinced that she completely understood what she was getting herself into.

"And I take it you are lacking a sense of self preservation yourself, if you are really insisting on asking me that once again," she said back. The hint of snowy white that began to cloud her eyes alerted me to the seriousness of her threat. She would really freeze me again if she felt that would help me respect her abilities more. She didn't understand though. It wasn't that I didn't respect her abilities, I just didn't trust mine. Fire was too volatile, too unpredictable. I could light myself or my surroundings on fire at any moment. My accident log was filled with minor mishaps that occurred on an everyday basis for me. There was a reason my parents kept 11 fire extinguishers around my house and refilled them every two weeks. I was out of control.

Pushing all those thoughts out of my head, I decided to just live in the moment. "Can I ask you to the Homecoming Dance?" I said after a minute. So maybe I was just as bad as the other boys at Sky High, but I was pretty sure I had a better chance than they did at the moment.

Her eyes melted immediately back to dark brown. She smiled and then began shaking her head. "Edward, I would have thought you hated that sort of thing. I'm almost disappointed," she said.

I just shrugged. It was true; I did hate that sort of thing. "But how else am I going to show all the boys at this school that you're taken?" I challenged, "Besides, Aro really wants our class to attend the dinner he's holding right before the dance. If we're getting dressed up and going to the school anyway, we might as well attend the dance."

"Good point," she conceded. I grinned triumphantly and she traced her finger along my lips, studying me closely as I tilted my head forward and kissed her finger tip. Her eyes were looking a little cloudy again.

"You should really smile more often," she whispered, "That smile—," she shook her head and her curls bounced everywhere as if she was trying to dispel an image from her mind. "On second thought, maybe you shouldn't, that thing is dangerous."

"What thing?" I questioned.

She shook her head again and completely changed subjects. "So has your sister ever actually been wrong before?"

I grinned and rolled me eyes. Alice did have an uncanny ability to predict the outcome of almost any situation.

"Not that I can remember," I replied, "What was she right about this time?"

She bit her bottom lip and seemed to contemplate for a minute before speaking again, "It's just the Homecoming Dance was supposed to be 'Girls Choice' and you hadn't even talked to me for two weeks, I mean, how did she know? She specifically told me that you would ask me at some point this evening."

Oh Alice. That girl was impossible. "She stacked the odds in her favor of course," I explained, "There was no way I would be able to stay away from you tonight when you're wearing that dress, and then when you go and do things like, I don't know… kiss me?" I teased.

"You mean like this?" She grinned and pecked me on the cheek.

I shook my head, "No, more like this," I responded with a soft touch on her bottom lip.

"Oh you mean _this _is all I had to do to get you to start talking to me again?" she laughed with a kiss to my upper lip. I liked this game.

"Yeah I'm pretty sure, I would have had to talk to you if you would have done _this_," I concluded, kissing her full on both lips.

When I pulled back, her eyes were squinted half close and she was studying me again, with her bottom lip sucked between her teeth. "You know, I really wish somebody would have told me that earlier so we could have stopped this whole ridiculous avoidance thing a heck of a lot sooner," she said softly.

"What? You were unhappy? I thought you didn't even notice?"

"Ha!" she laughed one slightly bitter, completely humorless chuckle then grew serious. "Promise me one thing Edward."

I stared at her, uncomprehending.

"Just promise me that next time you decide you're going to ignore me for my own good, you'll at least give me some kind of warning first."

I nodded, feeling ashamed, "Sorry".

She lifted one eyebrow and continued to stare at me expectantly.

"I promise."

And with that, she relaxed. She rested her head on my shoulder and we sat together outside for a wonderful amount of time—one that I would not forget anytime soon. I loved talking to Bella, we had a lot in common, and her answers always surprised me.

"So what's your take on flowers?" I had asked at one point.

She shrugged, "They're nice I suppose. I think I'd rather look at a field full of flowers, or a bush planted in the Earth then a bouquet of them in a vase. Once they're in the vase though, it doesn't matter what you do, eventually they'll just fade. It's kind of sad really."

"Do you think we should go back inside?" she asked eventually.

I shook my head. I absolutely did not ever want to leave this place. Ever.

"I think we missed the cake, but we should probably go back in and tell the rest of the party guests good night," she suggested.

"I could take you home now if you'd like," I offered, eager to spend more time with her.

She smiled hesitantly. "I'm actually staying here tonight. Charlie, er, my father is out of town working on a case," she explained. I noticed the worried pitch that her voice adopted as she spoke about her father.

"What does he do?" I wondered, though I was pretty certain I had heard Alice mention he was a police officer before.

"He works for the NYPD," she said, "He's working on a kidnapping case right now. A woman, about 30 years old was kidnapped from her job at a computer company in Pennsylvania."

I considered that for a moment. "Does he usually leave town to work on cases? Don't police officers only work within their jurisdiction, why would he go to Pennsylvania?"

The listless smile she had been wearing on her face just moments ago was completely fallen, "Yes, usually he works within his jurisdiction. But this case is very similar to one he had several years ago, one he was never able to solve. He's been obsessing over the case for as long as I can remember, and when this happened he rushed over to Pittsburgh and hopped on the case before anybody could question him. He's a hard worker, and he's very brave. I know he did everything in his power to try and find the woman all those years ago, but he still feels like it's his fault she disappeared. He never stopped looking for her. I think he believes the two cases might be related in some way. He didn't tell me everything though," she said. Her eyes were locked on mine, as if trying to gauge my reaction to all this.

I wrapped my arm more tightly around her cold body and asked the question I suspected I already knew the answer to. "Who was the woman who disappeared all those years ago?"

"Her name is Renee, Renee Swan, my mother," she admitted softly. She looked so worried and upset, I felt horrible for asking.

"It will be alright, I'm sure he'll be just fine Bella. Don't worry about him," I tried to comfort her.

"I don't really like having him out of the city working on a case like this. What if something happens to him? I can't protect him when he's so far away," she sighed. I hugged her tighter and shivered at the cold feeling of her skin.

"If he's anything like you, I'm sure he's smart enough to avoid any truly dangerous situations," I said, still trying to relieve her worry.

Surprisingly, she giggled and pulled away to look at me in the face. "So you're saying that I'm smart enough to avoid dangerous situations are you? Does that mean you're finally admitting that you're not truly dangerous to me?"

I scowled. "No," I said, petulantly. "You're smart, but you lack that whole self preservation gene that most people depend on, I don't even know how you've made it this far."

She laughed again and kissed me on the cheek. "Maybe you're not quite as scary as you seem to think," she teased.

"Oh come on, let's go say good bye to the rest of the guests, if anybody is even still here," I said.

"Alright," she agreed with another laugh as she stood up. I was glad that I had at least gotten her to laugh again, even if it was at my own expense.

She placed her hands in mine and pulled me to my feet so we could walk inside, but I refused to let her hand go even after I was standing.

Of course when we got back inside, the only people left at the party were Rose, Emmett, Jasper, and Alice, and then there was the stupid posse of boys who were trying to coerce Bella into asking them to the Homecoming Dance.

I wrapped my arm around her shoulder possessively and did my best not to smirk at each one of them individually. She chose me. She liked me. Not them.

There were five of them altogether, and I carefully memorized who they were and what they looked like for future reference. I of course knew Benjamin from our Specializations class with Aro and I recognized Jacob from Generalized Hero Training. The other three, Mike, Tyler, and Eric, were also vaguely familiar, though I was pretty certain they didn't usually have the wide bulging eyes on their faces.

There was a tense moment of fairly awkward silence broken only by Emmett's guffaws behind us and Rosalie smacking him on the arm. She was really a violent person.

Bella finally spoke. "Er, thanks for coming you guys, I'm sorry we didn't really get to hang out, I hope you enjoyed the party," she said politely.

Nobody spoke for another moment until the one I recognized as Tyler recovered from the awkwardness of the situation. "So I guess you're going to the Homecoming Dance with Edward?" he asked uncertainly.

Slowly Bella raised her head up and then lowered it in a long nod.

Jacob was next to contribute to the awkwardness, "Bella, I thought—," his voice sounded confused and a little hurt. I certainly didn't feel sorry for him, but it looked like Bella did. "But you were supposed to choose one of us, you were supposed to choose me," he lamented, and joyfully I watched the sadness in Bella's face disappear as it was replaced by incredulity.

"What is this exactly?" she asked, sounding scathed, "Did you guys just think you could get together and corner me into choosing one of you to take to the stupid Homecoming Dance?"

"What, no—," Jacob replied frantically, but she didn't wait to hear him out.

"What am I to you guys? Some trophy to show all the other boys that you are the best Hero at the school? That you got to play with the new toy while everybody else just has to watch? Well I'm sick and tired of this game, it's time for you guys to move on. I choose Edward, and he chooses me, so thank you for coming, thank you for your interest, but you can all take it back now, I'm done," she finished, sounding exhausted. It was without a doubt the best speech I had ever heard, with the three most beautiful words she could ever utter: I choose Edward.

Triumphantly I watched the 5 boys file out and hop into the remaining two vehicles outside. As soon as they were gone Emmett could contain himself no longer and he released the loudest laugh I had ever heard from him or anybody else for that matter. "Oh my gosh Bella! That was priceless! Did you see his face? Did you _see_ Newton's face?!"

She rolled her eyes but grinned despite herself. "Oh Emmett, would you lay off of him," she scolded.

He continued smiling and shook his head. "You know you are just as infuriating as they are!"

"Glad to be of service," he teased and patted her head before turning to follow Rose and Alice into the kitchen.

"Say it again," I commanded once it was just the two of us left in the front hall.

"Say what again?" she asked, confused.

I grinned, "Say you choose me."

A silly smile broke across her face. "Of course I choose you Edward, how could I not? It's more amazing that you chose me," she laughed.

"Ridiculous," I chided, and kissed her forehead.

It was long past midnight and I knew I should be heading home soon, but I couldn't bring myself to leave yet—so instead I followed Bella back into the kitchen and took a seat next to her at the high top table. Emmett sat on her other side and Rose sat at the end of the table next to Emmett while Alice and Jasper sat across from us.

"So little Bella, am I to understand that you've finally had it with all your admirers?" Jasper asked, as if he hadn't just witnessed the previous conversation. I didn't mind reflecting on the confrontation at all, I would probably be thinking about that little speech for weeks to come—but Bella did look a look a little uncomfortable.

She twisted her fingers around and replaced a curl behind her ear with the rest of them. "I feel bad," she sighed dejectedly, "Jacob looked really upset. I think I was too hard on them."

"You were not too hard on them, Bella," Alice said encouragingly, "They've been hounding you since the moment you stepped foot in Sky High, it was about time for them to step down."

She grinned at Alice, a tiny, insecure smile, so I threaded my arm around her back and pulled her a little bit closer.

"It looks like one of your admirers didn't get the message Bella, did you want me to take care of him?" Emmett asked with a wink.

Bella blushed and shook her head scooting her chair even closer to mine. "No, I don't mind this one so much, he can stay."

"Did you two have a nice talk earlier?" he persisted.

She punched his shoulder and shook her head, "That's none of your business Em!" she admonished, then began rubbing her fist as if she hurt her hand when she punched him. I took it in mine and tried to soothe it as everybody else just laughed. I wondered if it would make sense to put ice on it since her skin was so cold already.

"So I'd say the party was a success," Alice said with a proud smile as she rested her head on Jasper's arm. It didn't look like he minded in the least—in fact he moved a little closer and bent down so she could rest her head on his shoulder instead.

"Yes, thank you Alice, it was a very nice party," Rosalie smiled, eyes only on Emmett. After a second of googly eye exchanging between the two she turned back to Alice with a frown, "But was it really necessary to invite every single person that we have ever met?"

Alice shrugged, "That's the point of a party," she said, unapologetically, "What would your mother have said if she knew this house wasn't full to capacity. She left me in charge of this party since she's out of town, so I had to do everything in my power to make sure it met her expectations."

"But you had to invite Mike Newton? And Victoria, really?" she questioned.

"Mike was Bella's idea, she just didn't want him to feel left out since all his friends were invited," Alice explained, "And what's wrong with Victoria? She's in our Specializations class, she seems nice."

Rosalie looked at Alice curiously, "You think she's nice? That girl is insanely power hungry, and anything but nice. How do you think she got to be Class President? I heard that she threatened the other guy who was running so he backed out at the last minute. The only teacher that defended her was Dr. Banner, the other teachers and students don't trust her.

"She's only nice to a very select few people at the school, and her reputation as a Golden Girl seems a little sketchy given who she hangs out with, need I remind you of James and Laurent," she pointed out.

Alice looked stunned by the news and said nothing.

"Speaking of James and Laurent," Jasper spoke up, "What were they doing here? I know they weren't invited, and when I saw them talking with Victoria and Heidi, I got a suspicious feeling from them too—their emotions were almost angry. I was keeping an eye on them, thinking they would do something disruptive, like they normally would, but nothing happened. They left with the girls before the cake even came out."

"Oh and Edward," he added, "I think Laurent is terrified of you for some reason."

I smirked, "Good, now that only leaves the rest of the school to deal with," I said teasingly.

Jasper laughed, "Oh, most of them are at least marginally wary of you, but Laurent is different. I was watching him when you walked into the room, he felt utter shock and raw fear, what did you do to him exactly?"

I tried to remember my latest incident with him. I knew he was much less likely to approach me than James, but I didn't know I frightened him _that_ much. "I think I set his shoe laces on fire on the first day of school, that's the last thing I remember," I said thoughtfully, still trying to determine how to use this to my advantage. Maybe at the next school assembly I could set everybody's shoe laces on fire and they would all leave me alone from that point on.

"Alice, I don't think I even saw you down at the party that you worked so hard to throw," Emmett said suddenly, a mischievous grin growing on his face. Alice stiffened and looked at him with slightly horrified eyes as if begging him to stop. "Pray tell, where were you this evening? Holding Jasper hostage up in Rosalie's room, or were you just holding him in general?" he asked with a smirk.

In the next moment I felt a very strong and oppressive sense of calm wash over me, it made my eyes droop and my thoughts become bleary. I looked around and everybody else seemed to be feeling sleepy as well. When I blinked, my eyes remained closed longer than usual as if attempting to sleep and when I finally opened them, my slowed thought processes prompted me to look at Jasper—though I couldn't identify why. He was staring at Emmett with a vindictive smile on his face. Emmett's head was drooping to the side and the arm he had around Rose's neck was slipping down her back.

The moment Emmett's head hit the table, the amazing sense of calm disappeared and the haze I felt on my mind receded. I felt relaxed and much more alert.

Rosalie smacked Jasper. "What did you do that for?" she demanded.

Jasper shrugged and wrapped his arm back around Alice, kissing her head. "What? He was talking too much, plus he needs to watch how he's handling my baby sister in my presence," he said haughtily.

I cleared my throat and everybody turned to face me inquisitively. I simply inclined my head toward Alice and lifted one of my eyebrows suggestively. I didn't need to say anything out loud, but I was pretty certain my facial expression read something along the lines of 'Speaking of baby sisters'.

Bella and Rosalie laughed, but Alice looked even more mortified than before as she glared at me. Jasper had the decency to look embarrassed, so I smiled at him so he'd know I was only joking. Rose began poking Emmett's sides to wake him up and Bella aided the effort by dropping tiny icicles down his collared shirt.

He jumped up with a sudden jolt and began reaching for his back, trying to grab at the bits of ice. "Agh!" he screamed, "Cold! So cold!"

Bella bit her lip to hide her smile while everybody else broke out in raucous laughter. When Emmett finally settled down, it was after 1 a.m. and Jasper made a comment about heading out. It was strange feeling to me—being out with friends in the late hours of the night and actually enjoying myself. I looked at Bella and considered the possibility that this might have just been the very best night of my life—and I hadn't even wanted to come! It looked like I would have to thank Alice eventually.

"Edward, you coming man?" Jasper asked, "We're going to head over to Emmett's while the girls have their slumber party here."

I thought about it for a minute before nodding my agreement. The three of us piled into my car and Emmett gave me directions to his house. I called Esme on the way and told her of my plans. I could tell she was already in bed by the groggy tone of her voice, but when she found out I wasn't coming home tonight, her voice instantly became excited and she gave me an overly-enthusiastic approval.

"Just call me in the morning, or if you need anything. Or you know what, don't worry about calling me in the morning, just have fun, and don't stay up too late—unless you want to, and don't forget to brush your teeth, oh shoot, do you even have your tooth brush, do you want me to bring you your tooth brush?"

"Mom, calm down," I said with an indulgent smile in my voice. I hadn't realized this would make her so happy, I really should do it more often. "I'll be fine and I'll see you in the morning," I said before I hung up.

Emmett's house was pretty close to Rosalie's. It was in the next neighborhood over, and like the houses in the last neighborhood, these suburban monstrosities were all well kept. His parents were already asleep, so he led us to the pool house where there was an assortment of snacks, sheets, pillows, video games, some rope, army camouflage gear and of all things, 4 cans of shaving cream. "What's all this for?" I wondered.

"Oh just some materials for our ultimate prank which we've been planning for the last week and a half," Emmett said happily.

"We're going to scare the girls tonight," Jasper explained with excitement laced in his tone.

"Oh," was all I managed to say in response.

I really had no idea what I had been missing out on all these years by avoiding people so completely. Having friends was actually kind of awesome.

* * *

**A/N Review and I'll send you a "short" outtake that shows the outcome of the prank. Also, if there were any other extra POV's that I promised and you never received, just let me know (along with what chapter they're from) and I'll send them. **


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